Survey: Support for terror suspect torture differs among the faithful

Survey: Support for terror suspect torture differs among the faithful

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.

White evangelical Protestants were the religious group most likely to say torture is often or sometimes justified -- more than six in 10 supported it. People unaffiliated with any religious organization were least likely to back it. Only four in 10 of them did.

The analysis is based on a Pew Research Center survey of 742 American adults conducted April 14-21. It did not include analysis of groups other than white evangelicals, white non-Hispanic Catholics, white mainline Protestants and the religiously unaffiliated, because the sample size was too small. See results of the survey
The president of the National Association of Evangelicals, Leith Anderson, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The survey asked: "Do you think the use of torture against suspected terrorists in order to gain important information can often be justified, sometimes be justified, rarely be justified, or never be justified?"

Roughly half of all respondents -- 49 percent -- said it is often or sometimes justified. A quarter said it never is.

The religious group most likely to say torture is never justified was Protestant denominations -- such as Episcopalians, Lutherans and Presbyterians -- categorized as "mainline" Protestants, in contrast to evangelicals. Just over three in 10 of them said torture is never justified. A quarter of the religiously unaffiliated said the same, compared with two in 10 white non-Hispanic Catholics and one in eight evangelicals.

I'm probably the only one who found the results of this study shocking.

Quote :

The analysis is based on a Pew Research Center survey of 742 American adults conducted April 14-21. It did not include analysis of groups other than white evangelicals, white non-Hispanic Catholics, white mainline Protestants and the religiously unaffiliated, because the sample size was too small.

Because 742 people can cover the views of the entire country. Oh, and it only questioned whites. Nice.

It's not that shocking. I find it more shocking that they think questioning 742 people gives them reason to condemn the entire denomination. I personally don't find it shocking that they say it is often or sometimes needed in those denominations. But if those questioned are anything like the folks back home, they're not that well informed, very pro-American, and closest racists.

^^^lol. I know you a little better than to think you'd find that survey number acceptable.
It was just a little clouded what you found shocking.

I wonder if who they asked has anything to do with the talk going on about making government torture files open to the public? This was the topic on a political radio program last weekend.

I don't find this shocking at all. They support torture until they are the ones being tortured.

Quote :

It did not include analysis of groups other than white evangelicals, white non-Hispanic Catholics, white mainline Protestants and the religiously unaffiliated, because the sample size was too small. »

hmmm The only two closely related faiths were questioned. No mention of any other faiths.

It's worth noting that 54% of regular churchgoers felt that torture was justified "often" or "sometimes". this means damn near half of them do not believe this.

and 42% of those who "seldom" or "never" attend church feel the same way, meaning damn near half of them are just as bad.