Church Going Americans More Likely To Support Torture

cnn.com:

The more often Americans go to church, the more likely they are to support the torture of suspected terrorists, according to a new survey.
The Washington Region Religious Campaign Against Torture rallied on Capitol Hill in March 2008.

More than half of people who attend services at least once a week -- 54 percent -- said the use of torture against suspected terrorists is "often" or "sometimes" justified. Only 42 percent of people who "seldom or never" go to services agreed, according to the analysis released Wednesday by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life.

Read the whole story: cnn.com

Comments

[thenorthshore]

usually only limbagh gets this much attention and such hatred.

take the time to wipe the foam off your mouths.

[Zanti]

"usually only limbagh gets this much attention and such hatred."

Four words: Bill and Hillary Clinton.

[dwright]

Don't forget the attacks on Chelsea when she was at that awkward stage.

[TheBaffler]

They actually deserve the derision as much as un-limber Limbaugh does.

[Zanti]

Well, this thread lasted 4,000 or so entries before total troll infestation. That's more than we could have hoped for, surely....

Anyway....

The study/analysis/whatever being hawked by both Pew and the press originated as a general Pew survey which showed nearly 3/4 of Americans support torture to extents ranging from "rarely" to "often."

When nearly 3/4 of Americans support something, it's not an issue of religion vs. secularism. That Pew elected to break down the data in terms of evangelicals versus mainline C.'s doesn't make the study a religious study, any more than breaking it down in terms of car owners vs. people who walk to work would change the fact that a huge majority of Americans support torture to one extent or another. When someone--the press, a research center, a street musician, whoever--takes a poll that indicts a huge chunk of the population and tweaks it in one direction or another, that should be made clear from the get-go. Instead, we have a widespread misconception that the poll was conducted on the basis of religion and that its primary findings concern religious groups.

If we on the left would stop worshiping at the altar of Data long enough to question what we receive in that regard, we'd be a stronger and smarter demographic. And worship of data--an aberration of the Information Age--seems to be more a curse of the left than the right. Lucky us.

[research]

Good point.

I don't care what "most people" believe about torture.

It's wrong.

You will have a war with me, on your hands, if you do not:

Stop torture and disavow Torture, forever.

[GodIs]

When our loving Savior upbraided his disciples for their unbelief, he taught us that on some occasions unbelief should be treated with severity. If you d-i-e without Christ, you will spend eternity under the curse and unmitigated wrath of almighty God. God is love.

[minimalist syntax]

Wouldn't you ever, for once, like to make a comment in your true persona? I agree with you that it is extremely hateful and twisted for someone to think that in the name of a loving God they have the right to personally pronounce condemnation over you.

[Zanti]

You're assuming he has a true persona. (-:

[ProfessorDuh]

Nonsensical claptrap.

[dwright]

Did you notice your last 7 words contained an oxymoron? wrath of almighty God. God is love.
I thought Christians were not supposed to start quoting the Old Testament, when the New Testament usurped it. Christianity is based on the new Testament and Judaism the Old Testament.

[Mabo]

Wrong...The New Testment builds upon the Old Testament. The Old Testament showed that it was useless for us to try and earn our own salvation...that trying to follow the Law as a whole was impossible. That was why their was a sacrificial system in place where an innocent, pure lamb was sacrificed for the sins of the people. Sometimes, it was accepted by God and sometimes it was not.
The first four books of the New Testament were still under the Law of the Old Testament. The change was the final sacrifice fro our sins...the innocent, pure, sinless sacrifice of the Son of God. THAT was what changed the system from the OT to the NT. It was, in effect, a NEW Covenant with humanity where the acceptance of that sacrifice changed one from the inside out. God is a just God...that is where the wrath comes into play. Justice against humanity in the Old Testament was due for the denial of the God that created them. God is love...that is why He sent His Son to die as the supreme sacrifice for all humanity. His love was demonstrated by Him providing us a way into Heaven. All we have to do is accept it.

[Hirnlego]

Its wonderful how you can contradict your own point.

[bootooyoo]

Jimmy:
"Mommy, my friend Bhadra told me that when he dies, if he's lived a good life, he's going to come back as a more enlightened person. Is that true?"

Mommy:
"Of course not Jimmy, that would be ridiculous. When Bhadra dies, our God is going to toss him into a flaming pit and torture him for all eternity, silly. Now go outside and play nice with Bhadra."

[AlaninElkGrove]

Self-righteous "Christians" embrace torture each day. It's part of their very being. Many wear a medallion of Jesus nailed to a crucifix (an ancient torture device) around their neck and say Jesus died for your sins, then go right out and espouse the very torture that they decry each Sunday. In His day, Jesus was seen as just a mortal, like each of us, and look what they did to Him. The hypocrasy is stark and stunning...

[minimalist syntax]

Reading this post is kind of like reading the report of an anthropologist from 100 years ago who didn't have the concept of doing ethnographies of the groups he/she was investigating but just pronounced some judgment on the group they were observing.

[tbone99]

Sadomasichism is the bedrock of their belief.- of course they believe it should be spread .

[WhatDaBleep]

Yes - Burn all the heathens - Burn them All.....

Either you are a GOD Fear'en Man or you are one of THEM!

[Zanti]

Sorry you feel that way. I'll pray for you.

[tbone99]

When people worship a God who kills the firstborn of a whole people,
Requests that those he cares for sacrifice their children,
Who visits a curse of pain on every member of one sex for seeking knowledge,
Who doesn't hesitate to throw people who never heard of him into a fiery hell
And who has determined natural biological instincts are worthy of severe
punishment and burning ,

Is it any wonder why these people think torture is okay?

They remind me of the Baptists I grew up around , Those poor children were whipped
every night , no matter what ,because they surely sinned one way or another during the day.

Such people grow up thinking torture is a big part of God's Kingdom
and their whole ideology is based on trying to barter
lessening what they know is coming to them

[Purcy]

Sadly, real Christianity is just too hard for most folks to grasp. They have not moved beyond 'and eye for an eye' to the New Covenant which is Jesus. Let's face it, 'love your enemy'? I don't think so. Don't blame the White Evangelical position on Jesus. I'm thinking he must weep for their stupidity. They probably don't even know that Jesus was tortured (to death) because there were those who believed him to be guilty of criminal behavior.

We happily justify having tortured those individuals who could somehow, by some flimsy rope, b tied to 9/11. Jesus asks us, "who is your brother...who is your mother"? We just can't bring ourselves to believe that all men/women, everywhere, every color, every religion, are our brother, our sisters, our mothers.

It's not religion that is bad, it is man's ability to use religion to commit horrible acts that is wrong.

I believe that Jesus would want us to look at the fact that we are again crucifying him. We never learn!

[facebook1]

There is nothing called "Real Chr!stianity" or "Real lsIam". What you see is what you get!

Get real!

[Forester]

We have to look in our own hearts to know what is real.

[kwinter]

"Sadly, real Christianity is just too hard for most folks to grasp."

If there were a god, and he wanted people to follow "real Christianity", why would he make it "just too hard for most folks to grasp''?
Or was it a flaw in his design, that he created "most folks" without the ability to "grasp" concepts this hard?

"They have not moved beyond 'and eye for an eye' to the New Covenant which is Jesus."

Jesus didn't have the slightest objection to the laws of the "Old Testament", many of which were extremely cruel!

[minimalist syntax]

The quote reminds me a little of people saying: the revolution hasn't happened, and workers embrace politics that are against their self interests, because it is too hard for the working class to understand Das Kapital.

This is what Christians (let me qualify- I am speaking for Greek Orthodox, because I can't speak for others with certainty) mean when they say the world is fallen: there is pain and immorality (in this sense) in the world. It *is* really difficult to live according to the commands of Christ. It requires constant spiritual vigilance. For the Orthodox, we try to practice something called prayer of the heart which is a technique of spiritual silence to try to create this vigilance. But it is hard and easy to forget, because the entire world is an interesting place.

I agree we cannot dismiss the OT and say Jesus makes the OT irrelevant. Jesus himself said He came to fulfill the Law not negate it. However, we are to understand His life as the true fulfillment of the law. Even down to the part of the law that says: "Cursed is he who hangs upon a tree." If one line of the OT is compared/contrasted to one line of the NT then many contradictions seem apparent, but if, by hypothesis, these are integrated whole sacred scriptures, a methodology must exist to understand them as a whole: Christ is the Divine Reconciliation of good and evil.

[Dvmx]

Apparently true Christianity is a failing enterprise in America. Instead, a delusional false christianity is taking it's place.

[alwaysthere]

Huffingtonpost Comments

what a book this would be !

good idea, Hey !

[facebook1]

It would be a book of outrage over Chr!stian H!story.

[Zanti]

It would be a book of people uncritically lapping up every arrangement of data offered to them by the media.

[Forester]

Only my comments and maybe Humeskeptic, Kellygirl and NJMikeV.

[BruceHNV]

Hey. I resemble that remark.

[JohnFromCensornati]

Je$u$ is my Shepherd; I shall be a sheep.
He maketh me to lie about morality.
He leadeth me to t0rture.
He demandeth my money.
He teacheth me self-righteousness for His name's sake.
Yea, though I face years of the BushDepression, I will not fear the evildoers.
For thou will t0rture them.
My delusions&hallucinations, they comfort me.
Thou preparest a t0rture camp for mine enemies.
Thou filleth my head with denial.
The offering plate runneth over.
Surely, gibberish and torture shall follow me all the days of my life
and I will wallow in the superstitions of the ancient goat-herders forever.
Cha-ching.

[kwinter]

One of your better ones!

[thedirtman]

Trying to understand the my right wing friends... let's see.

1. Believe tor ture is good (who would Je sus... ?)
2. Tend to go to church service and fall asleep
3. Tend to have night mares.
4. Tend to go to college and drop out.
5. Think government should take over the role of the church (teach prayer, religion, etc.)

Summary: They push themselves very hard without connecting with success. Believe that work is in the effort and the pain. Sensitive to feelings rather than logic (Mr. Spock really was e vil. Bones was right)

[facebook1]

Chr!stianity and lsIam the two viIe, h@teful reIigions of the world!

[facebook1]

Those two are not spiritual faiths..they are poIitical faiths

[BN2112]

And in spite of the notion faith itself is a virtue, it actually is a weakness. Faith is a rock-solid belief in something purely void of any rational evidence.

[facebook1]

Which 2 are the biggest predat0ry reIigions and which two suffer from the severest persecut!on complex?

[BN2112]

In this country--Protestant Evangalicals and Catholics perhaps?????

[facebook1]

And Islam!

[Zanti]

Um, the Cult of Data? No, wait. The Church of Richard Dawkins?

Um... wait, wait, I've got it: The Cathedral of Celebrity Worship!

No? Darn.

[Emerald1943]

For all the Christians out there who defend torture, I would suggest you read the following:

http://www.aclu.org/torturefoia/released/021109.html

If waterboarding does not fit your criteria on torture, would death do it? Shame on these so-called "christians"!

[alwaysthere]

Control is an iced road