Christianity might be a good thing if anyone ever tried it. --George Bernard ShawGod save us! A survey of 742 American adults published by the Pew Research Center asserts that the more one goes to church, the more likely one is to support torturing suspected terrorists. The survey was an analysis of the opinions of white evangelicals, white non-Hispanic Catholics, white mainline Protestants and the religiously unaffiliated. Of the people surveyed, 60% of those who attend evangelical churches said the use of torture is "often" or "sometimes" justified.
Anyone surprised?
Christians have a long history of breaking out the hot pokers and thumbscrews when they're trying to root out the devil. These United States owe their genesis to a particularly nasty group of such Christians; a sect that was so vile the Europeans pushed them off-continent. These people tortured and raped women accused of being witches. It was almost a form of public entertainment for them.
The Catholic Church, thankfully, has moved beyond such barbarity. But we need not delve very far into its history to recall the measures they took to extract confessions from Jews, Muslims and other "faithless" peoples in the late 1400s.
Today's evangelical torturers are, for the time being, held in check by the majority of the American public. But mark how nearly they came to achieving their medieval vision during the Junior Bush presidency. In 8 short years, the United States went from a nation that authored and complied with the Geneva Convention to a state that, until very recently, more or less openly advocated torture.
This latest survey makes clear that the demented fringe of Christianity is still with us, still waiting for the day. They'll always be there. And there will always be the danger of creatures like Junior whipping them into a blood-thirsty frenzy and then turning them loose.
These faux-Christian evangelicals are a miserable, frightened crowd. Their misery and fear turns them into beasts. And beasts are dangerous, if you ignore them. But in nature, the mangy hyena poses small danger so long as you keep an eye on it. So too with these relics of medieval thinking.
Watch them. Keep them confined to their mega-churches out on the desolate prairies and in their backwoods sh*tholes. When they occasionally drink too deeply from their Cup of Woe and feel the need to lash out, be aware. Be ready to thwart them. Above all, ignore their mindless bleating; do not be beguiled by their protestations of love. They hate; they fear. And that is all they do.
With the devastation of the Bush administration still fresh in our minds, it is easy to discern the danger. But in time, our memories will grow dim.
Just remember, the Inquisition is only one bad election away.
Note to readers: NWJR correctly pointed out that my original post had factual errors. I have since corrected these errors and updated the post. I'm sorry for the errors.
12 comments:
i need to sharpen my bed of nails and tighten the knots on my stretching rack! heh.
great post dade! may i link it tomorrow?
Brave soul you are blogging about religion and torture.
I agree with you.
Idle thought: are the uber-religios are getting meaner in the present day because they're losing members? More fear = better control?
The question asked is too subjective so the results of the poll hold no meaning. What is torture? It isn't defined in the poll question.
Some might consider torture to be sleep deprevation, others listening to rap music at high volume. Some might consider waterboarding to not be torture but sticking a hot pocker up someone's butt to be torture, so they answered "never" when they could very well approve of things another might consider to be torture. There's no standard in the question by which to define anything. Therefore to try and reach some type of conclusion from this is ridiculous. Once again, the media is trying to create news rather than report it.
I found this more interesting: Throwing out those who either didn't know or said "under no circumstances," 73% of those who went weekly said there could be a slight occasion when it was necessary, 74% who went monthly or a few times a years fell into that category, and of those who never went it was still 69%. Those percentages are virtually even. That tells me that, for the most part, the majority of people in the country could see it as being necessary at some point.
But to use this poll as some type of broadbrush statement against any group (in this case Christians) is poor critical thinking and illogical.
Naaa you being logical brother and I am not surprised by the correlation
Peace Dade,
ridwan
"Like a steely blade in a silken sheath we don't see what they're made of
They shout about love but when push comes to shove they live for things they're afraid of
And the knowledge that they fear is a weapon to be used against them."
-Neil Peart
(Great minds think alike, eh Dade?)
"But to use this poll as some type of broadbrush statement against any group (in this case Christians) is poor critical thinking and illogical."
Well, of course it is. But logical thinking doesn't play well in today's polarized culture.
Also, Dade, you need to be accurate in your analysis, which you aren't. You write, "The survey was an analysis of the opinions of white Protestant evangelicals".
But the story you linked to doesn't mention race whatsoever, and its conclusions say, "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.", which indicates that the survey was not limited to "Protestant evangelicals".
...and I missed the racial references, so my apologies for that.
I still think you're unfair in your conclusions, but you're entitled to that opinion. Thanks for the clarification, though.
While I'm not surprised that church going Christians find torture of terror suspects acceptable, they are not the biggest threat to this country.
I doubt they will commit mass murder against those with whom they disagree. I doubt they will strap explosives to their bodies, fly planes full of
innocent people into buildings full of innocent people, or decapitate captives/hostages/POW's. However, Muslim radicals believe that's their ticket to paradise.
I was just talking to a friend about this very poll! So sad! The God I know and love would NEVER condone torture!!! I feel sorry for, and incredibly angry with, those so filled with hate and fear. Thanks for the post!
i need to sharpen my bed of nails and tighten the knots on my stretching rack! heh.
great post dade! may i link it tomorrow?
The question asked is too subjective so the results of the poll hold no meaning. What is torture? It isn't defined in the poll question.
Some might consider torture to be sleep deprevation, others listening to rap music at high volume. Some might consider waterboarding to not be torture but sticking a hot pocker up someone's butt to be torture, so they answered "never" when they could very well approve of things another might consider to be torture. There's no standard in the question by which to define anything. Therefore to try and reach some type of conclusion from this is ridiculous. Once again, the media is trying to create news rather than report it.
I found this more interesting: Throwing out those who either didn't know or said "under no circumstances," 73% of those who went weekly said there could be a slight occasion when it was necessary, 74% who went monthly or a few times a years fell into that category, and of those who never went it was still 69%. Those percentages are virtually even. That tells me that, for the most part, the majority of people in the country could see it as being necessary at some point.
But to use this poll as some type of broadbrush statement against any group (in this case Christians) is poor critical thinking and illogical.
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