A new survey from Pew Research Center found white evangelical Protestants strongly support torture, while mainstream Protestants were less likely to back torture than Americans generally. Similarly, strongest support for torture comes from those who attend religious services at least weekly.
Those unaffiliated with a religion and those who seldom or never attend religious services were the least likely to support torture.
A shocking 62% of white evangelical Protestants said that torture can often or sometimes be justified. Only 33% of them felt that torture can rarely or never be justified. Mainstream Protestants were less likely to back torture: 46% said it was often or sometimes justified, while a majority—53%—said it wasn’t.
The reality is that there’s not much difference between mainstream Protestants and the non-religious (40% support, 55% oppose torture), and both of them were slightly less likely to support torture than Americans generally, who are split on the issue: 49% supported, 47% opposed.
White evangelical Protestants provided the strongest support for the Bush/Cheney regime, and are still the mainstream of the Republican Party. This may explain why members of the former regime and the Republican Party continue to back torture. And, it shows yet another inconsistency between their religious views and their political positions.
We have a long way to go to remove the stain of torture from America’s honour. But this survey suggests that there may be deeper obstacles than many of us realised.
Related story on CNN.com (originally found via Joe.My.God).
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