Churchgoers more likely to back torture, survey finds

WASHINGTON (CNN) — The more often Americans go to church, the more likely they are to support the torture of suspected terrorists, according to a new analysis. [...]

White evangelical Protestants were the religious group most likely to say torture is often or sometimes justified — more than 6 in 10 supported it. People unaffiliated with any religious organization were least likely to back it. Only 4 in 10 of them did.

I'm not shocked by that result. It fits with what I've heard from people who claim they are Real Christians, and that punishing or killing "evil doers" is perfectly acceptable behavior according to their interpretation of the Bible. The same folks who promote the idea of a "Christian Warrior" at their Jesus Camps. The Pastors who publicly proclaimed at Republican rallies last Fall that "Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists around the world are praying for an Obama victory that if Obama wins, they'll think "their god is bigger" than the Christian god." The US General and self proclaimed evangelical Christian, William Boykin who claimed he led an "Army of God" in Iraq, and who helped Gitmo-ize Abu Ghraib vastly expanding the Bush administration's use of torture and abuse to thousands of Iraqi detainees many of whom were swept up in mass arrests by American soldiers merely for the "crime" of living in a Sunni neighborhood.

So, no I'm not surprised that the people who most loudly proclaim their "Christian values" have no moral qualms when it comes to killing and torturing people who don't share their faith or have the exact same beliefs that they do. I've known for many years that many, many of these so-called "Christians" are hypocrites when it comes to issues of morality and human rights. You know what does surprise me? That CNN had the guts to actually use the word torture in their article. But then maybe the details of the survey conducted by Pew Forum of Religion & Public Life made it impossible for them to avoid the word that must not be named. At least by the US media, anyway.

How much do you want to bet this survey result is prominently reported by the traditional "liberal media" over the next few weeks rather than buried or ignored as soon as possible? No takers, eh? Don't blame you. Don't blame you one bit.