Pew conducted a survey recently on the use of torture, and I found the results to be interesting. More, and a link, below the fold.
The survey was from 14 to 21 April of this year and took the responses of 742 American adults. Because of fair use restrictions, I will not present the graphics, since the graphics are 90% of their post, but the link to it is here.
In a nutshell, the results at first are surprising, but upon reflection actually are not. Here is the part that I find interesting. The question is
The use of torture against suspected terrorists can OFTEN be justified, can SOMETIMES be justified, can RARELY be justified, can NEVER be justified, and don't know or refused to respond. Here are the results:
Thus, 49% of respondents say that it is OK often or sometimes to torture. But if the respondent is an evangelical, that goes to 62%. Those who are either not Christian or not practicing Christians say it is OK 40% of the time. All of the self identified Christians were more likely to say that torture is OK often or sometimes.
The RARELY category is interesting, but I can explain the skewed results for the evangelicals. Since so many of them think that is is generally OK, torturing "rarely" is pretty much a nonissue with them. Adding all of the totals from "often" to "rarely" and making the assumption that even if one approves "rarely" that they approve of torture in at least some cases, we get the following:
In the general sample, 71% approve of torture, at least in some circumstances. For the evangelicals, 79% do. Catholics are about the same at 78%, whilst the mainline Protestants come in at 68%. The folks of little of no faith are at 69% in favor.
For the folks who say that is is "never" OK to torture, the entire sample is at 25%, but the evangelicals are only at 16%. The Catholics are close, at 20%, but the mainline Protestants are very much above the curve at 31% opposed to torture in any circumstance. Good on them! The wobbly ones are at 26% against.
Look at the Don't Know/Refuse line. The Catholics and the mainline Protestants pretty much say what they believe. The evangelicals and the godless are tied at five times the number of the mainline Protestants at 5%.
Now, as promised, my analyses of the data. First, I find it very disturbing that most Americans polled think that it OK to torture, at least rarely. The statistics are not very good, since the sample was so small, but around 7 out of 10 polled say that is OK. Ouch! White evangelicals and Catholics are closer to 8 out of 10, whilst mainline Protestants and the godless are just under 7 in 10. That is way larger than I would have hoped. The poll did not ask if any of the participants ever watched that foolish TeeVee show with the DUI convict in it, and I suspect that there would be a correlation.
The evangelicals are hands down in favor of torture, followed by the Catholics. I fear that I provided real insight into why this is I would be troll rated off of the page, but I am pretty intrepid. Many (not all) people who belong to these groups tend to accept "higher authority", either from temporal or transcendental authorities. In other words, the law of man is less important than the law of God, and God wants to punish sinners. This is my take.
The mainline Protestants were interesting in this area. 31% of them are against torture in any form, followed by the godless. I think that I can explain this. The mainline Protestants are brought up within a culture that favors reflection and education over emotional attachment. I was brought up in the Methodist church, and thus know this. Their (not mine, any more, I resigned) doctrine is not knee jerk. The godless also tend to muddle thought and philosphies, so 26% were always against torture.
The final analysis just reinforces our already known attitudes about the Republic Party and their supporters: they tend to be more rigid in their beliefs, and uncompromising. They are right, the facts be damned. I expect a lot of flack and many hide ratings (I still like the old, troll ratings, term) but I think that I have spoken the truth.
As always, comments, corrections, and new ideas are welcome.
Warmest regards,
Doc