Christians More Supportive of Torture

I've noted before how conservative Christians in America seem to have an agenda that is 180 degrees the opposite of the Gospel message. Besides seeking to amass their own riches rather than care for the poor and the hungry, seeking to deprive the least fortunate of health care coverage, a new study shows that they also support the use of torture more than non-religious Americans.  It would seem that it's time for them to drop the Christian label and perhaps "Kochists" or "Kochians" or some other  name that clearly shows the degree to which their agenda is the antithesis of the supposed message of Christ.  A piece in Religion Dispatches looks at the support of torture among the "godly folks.'  Here are highlights:

A new Washington Post/ABC News poll finds that Americans, by a 59-31% margin, believe that CIA “treatment of suspected terrorists” in detention was justified.

[T]he gap between torture supporters and opponents widens between voters who are Christian and those who are not religious. Just 39% of white evangelicals believe the CIA’s treatment of detainees amounted to torture, with 53% of white non-evangelical Protestants and 45% of white Catholics agreeing with that statement. Among the non-religious, though, 72% said the treatment amounted to torture.

Sixty nine percent of white evangelicals believe the CIA treatment was justified, compared to just 20% who said it was not. (Those numbers, incidentally, roughly mirror the breakdown of Republican versus Democratic voters among white evangelicals.) A full three-quarters (75%) of white non-evangelical Protestants outnumber the 22% of their brethren in saying CIA treatment was justified. White Catholics believe the treatment was justified by a 66-23% margin.

But a majority of non-religious adults, 53%, believe the CIA actions were not justified, with 41% of the non-religious saying the treatment was justified.

[I]n all three of these Christian groups believed the torture “produced important information that could not have been obtained any other way,” even though the Senate report debunked that claim.

[I]t’s a striking look at the way religion (or lack thereof) informs people’s views on legal and moral questions.

The take away?  If you are seeking kindness and mercy, don't look to conservative Christians for it.  Hypocrisy in huge doses, yes, mercy and decency, no.