It's Official: Some Christians Like To Torture People!

And Atheists Might Be The Ones Who Are MOST Pro-Life!

From nuns rapping little boys' knuckles with a ruler to Torquemada to the Salem Witch Trials, it's no secret that some clergy and some faithful followers were into corporal punishment - in a BIG WAY. Although the subject of torture is confined to the military these days, it may be interesting to the reader that the people who approve of torture (in the U.S.) are to a large percent, Christian.

These are the latest findings from Pew Research Center:

A combined 54 percent of at-least-weekly church-goers say torture is either often or sometimes justifiable; for those who attend monthly or a few times a year, that figure is 51 percent; for those who do not attend, it is 42 percent. Evangelicals, according to the survey, are more prone to saying torture is justifiable than members of the nation’s other two main Christian groups: so-called “mainline” Protestants and white, non-Hispanic Catholics. Unaffiliateds–a conglomerated group of atheists, agnostics, and those who say their religion is “nothing in particular–support torture the least: 40 percent say it’s justifiable often or sometimes.

Those approval ratings are much higher than most European countries. So much for civilization and "Christian values." And while we're at it, what about the death penalty? Surely America's compassionate religious population would be so pro-life that they would strenuously oppose capital punishment. Well, not really:

wikipedia:

In 2000 the Southern Baptist Convention updated Baptist Faith and Message. In it the convention officially sanctioned the use of capital punishment by the State. It said that it is the duty of the state to execute those guilty of murder and that God established capital punishment in the Noahic Covenant.

And persecution/discrimination too?

(The Intelligence Daily)

-- As reported in yesterday's New York Times, a South Carolina chapter of Habitat for Humanity prohibited a group of Secular Humanist volunteers from wearing their “Non Prophet Organization” T-shirts; a Charleston-area teacher "came out" as a nonbeliever after years of church dinners and demurrals; and Humanist Loretta Haskell struggled over her role as a church musician. While such stories remain commonplace, a related story with a substantial bearing on these anecdotes is one of America’s best-kept secrets.

So torture and capital punishment could stick around for a long time if America's Christians have anything to say! Pro Life? Hmmm. Looks like once you're out of the womb, you're on your own, kid!

Just a thought.