A new poll finds that nearly six in 10 white Southern evangelicals believe torture is justified.
The poll, commissioned by Faith in Public Life and Mercer University, found that 57 percent of respondents said torture can be often or sometimes justified to gain important information from suspected terrorists. Thirty-eight percent said it was never or rarely justified.
Americans are now among the people on earth most supportive of government's torturing prisoners.
The only other countries where support for torturing terror suspects has grown are India, Nigeria, Turkey, South Korea and Egypt. In all other developed countries, support for an absolute ban on torture has actually risen in the past two years and America is now leading the way in legalising torture as a tool for governments fighting terrorism.
Andrew Sullivan is on form when he says:
"Southern evangelicals are therefore the mainstay of the torture regime in this country. The only point at which they even balk at torturing people who haven't been subject to minimal due process is when they are reminded that this could come back to hurt Americans. The idea that torture is immoral in itself seems alien to a majority of the millions who lined up to see Mel Gibson's The Passion Of The Christ. Since the South was built on torture-slavery, this is not that historically surprising. Many ancestors of today's Christianists tortured African-Americans routinely. But the extent of Southern evangelicals support for violating one of the core moral absolutes of Christianity is striking."
As Sullivan reminds us, Southern evangelicals always cite Scripture when arguing that homosexuals should be jailed or sent to therapy or denied basic rights in their marriages. But when it comes to torture, they don't cite Scripture.
"The new poll found that 44 percent of white Southern vangelicals
rely on life experiences and common sense to determine their views
about torture. A lower percentage, 28 percent, said
the relied on
Christian teachings or beliefs."
Fundamentalist Christians have at least seen through George Bush's lies on torture:
"Pollsters also found that 53 percent of white Southern evangelicals believe the government uses torture in its anti-terrorism campaign, despite claims by government officials to the contrary. About one-third, or 32 percent, said the government does not use torture as a matter of policy."
Can it be that these Christians approve of what their much admired president is doing? Some 65 per cent of them support the now pro-torture candidate, John McCain.
(You can buy a t-shirt with the WWJT logo here. Courtesy of Betty Bowers.)
I found an interesting observation when Googling "Waterboard Jesus"
http://everybrokenthing.net/Waterboard_Jesus.html
Posted by: Beau | 13 January 2009 at 02:43 PM
Of course Jesus would torture no one. I have been asking this same question "Who would Jesus torture?" to motorists stopped for traffic as we conduct our weekly peace rallies. It really has the right wingers flummoxed. They don't want to think about it so they roll their car windows up.
In response to those saying torture doesn't work, you are mistaken. Torture does sometimes elicit correct information, but that is not why it is used. Torture is a means of controlling the population and stifling dissent. The purpose of torture is to control those who are not being tortured and keep them in line.
Nick Egnatz
NW Indiana Veterans For Peace
Posted by: Nick Egnatz | 19 September 2008 at 04:49 PM
Jesus Christ wouldn't torture anyone - no matter who they are. Mind control and other forms of electronic brain torture have been prevalent across the United States for some time now. The Bible says that all people are sinners and fall short of the glory of God. The South is being unjustifiably singled out. The persons who are torturing need to realize their fate of eternal torment, while the victims should be assured of their eternal reward.
Posted by: John Oberuch Jr | 18 September 2008 at 08:45 PM
"Love thy neighbour as thyself."
Posted by: Colin Forbes | 17 September 2008 at 10:50 PM
The obvious rhetorical question to ask these people is: "If there was a situation where thousands of lives could be saved, would suicide-bombing be justified?"
Posted by: Nicholas | 16 September 2008 at 12:15 PM
In this day and age for any government to endorse the use of torture, when it is proven that it gains nothing in the way of true information is quite medieval and the worst kind of governance that can be imagined.
The people of that country, who endorse the use of torture are also blinded by the thought of someone gaining the upper hand in their "wars."
Torture and the use of psychological warfare in then current climate is fast becoming the pariah of the world and should be outlawed by all civilized countries. Sadly, Amerikka, has yet to recognize the human right not to be put in the position of torture and inhumane conditions for the purpose of obtaining on the spot information.
Should the American people elect John McCain, then I, an American citizen, would recommend that America be put on the list of countries to be sanctioned and have economic sanctions in place until the Congress outlaws torture and any form of torture.
Posted by: Nelson Robison | 16 September 2008 at 09:31 AM
Same old, same old: When you advocate torture of your fellow man and/or woman, you suffer from infantile sibling rivalry - your competitor is frantically painted as the embodiment of evil so that YOU have Mummy/Daddy all to yourself once more...Infantile envy does make people triumphantly sadistic. We've been there before, individually and collectively. Why don't we teach "Know yourself, so that you can conquer your own impulses" from an early age.
Posted by: Julia Iskandar | 16 September 2008 at 07:00 AM
that is why very religious people are fundamentally evil - they even use 'God' as a justification for suffering and call it god's anger, then they harp on about free will as a justification for men's evil deeds but forget that they are acting out the same old animalistic traits of power, suppression, bullying, hatred and tribal mentality. There are many many ignorant religious people in fact the words intelligence and religious cannot be used together - they do not have a relationship.
Posted by: loppo | 15 September 2008 at 09:23 PM