Churchgoers more likely to back torture, survey finds »
Posted By Aidenag 6 months, 3 weeks ago in ReligionThe more often Americans go to church, the more likely they are to support the torture of suspected terrorists, according to a new analysis.
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Aidenag
Photographer by day, news junkie by night. My main areas of interest are politics and the environment.
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Aidenag6 months, 3 weeks ago
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Endoscopy6 months, 3 weeks ago
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Could it possibly be that they believe that lives may be saved? Like when they waterboarded the three men and got information that prevented the attack in LA. Silly story and silly poster. Always looking to make harsh judgments against Christians.
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cowboygrandpa6 months, 3 weeks ago
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Aidenag:
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I won't give you a pos or negative.
I agree that most meeting places that call themselves "churches" would not be recognized as such by the original Christians.
I think Paul would have a lot to say about what passes as Christianity today, most of it not good.
That said, there are those who attend worship for the right reasons and know that torture is not of Christ , God, or the Holy Spirit. But is of the devil and his ways.
Whenever man tries to put his stamp on something Holy he dirties it. Because man is not Holy, God is.
So to me those who back the torture are of satan not God. Just because one attends a meeting to worship God does not make one a Christian or a man of faith.
Living according to the Gospel does. So I'd like one person to show me where Jesus Christ said to torture our enemies. As I recall he said to Love our enemies.
God will render judgement and deliver those whom He chooses. Those who believe torture is the answer have no faith, they believe in their ways not Gods. -
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epiphannyy6 months, 3 weeks ago
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I live in the heart of the Bible Belt, in the North Carolina mountains, and this doesn't surprise me at all. I am constantly amazed at the rationalizations I hear made for torture by people who consider themselves "good Christians." It's frightening really when you hear the rationalizations they make as you come to realize they are, in their own way, as dangerous as any other religious zealot who thinks the ends justify the means. The fact that everything America supposedly stands for is in complete opposition to such a stance never seems to faze them. Any idea of being humane, you know like Jesus would behave, is met with great consternation and outrage and accusations of unpatriotic beliefs.
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But really, if you look at history, more death and suffering and torture has been committed in the name of "god" than for any other reason. I realize everyone now is all bent over the Muslims and their radical ideas, but Christianity isn't immune to such horror and the Christian Crusades are testament to that fact. What is frightening, however, is living where I live the climate has gotten so hostile that if another "Crusade" were to be proposed, the vast majority of "good Christians" would willingly take up arms and join the lockstep procession behind the likes of Pat Robertson, etc.
Remember that old saying, "Never underestimate an idiot with a cause"? I can tell you that if we, as a society, do underestimate these idiots with a cause that it will be to our peril. These people are nuts and they think God is on their side.
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quicksilver06026 months, 3 weeks ago
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deathray6 months, 3 weeks ago
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we can go down swinging...together
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WHAT AM I SAYING!
querida, it's the rack for me tonight
http://images.starpulse.com/Photos/Previews/Addams... -
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Ciera-Marie6 months, 3 weeks ago
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Ha, ha, ha, oh man, Stop it. Try to back out of a space when five to ten of them are in the middle of the lane talking about who knows/cares and they just look at you and don't move.
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I personally think that the parking lots are the real reason why the Mega Church's have to have deputies and police officers directing traffic. I think they also need to patrol the parking lots. They'd make their quotas, stop fist fights from breaking out, ticket people for jay walking, walking in front of on coming traffic when told by crossing guards not too, and my favorite...running stop signs, running red lights and cutting people off in traffic and giving you the finger.
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engineer6 months, 3 weeks ago
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Natureboy6 months, 3 weeks ago
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The EMBLEM OF THEIR FAITH is a freakin torture device, the cross! They wear it on their necks, they have it on their bumperstickers.
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They believe the one they worship invented hell, a place of eternal torture.
So am I shocked that they support torture? Not so much...
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truthiness6 months, 3 weeks ago
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742 people is hardly a scientific poll of anything.
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and even if it were, 56 to to 42 with the margin of error is pretty much 50/50
so basically this useless poll tells us that half of the people were for it and half against.... big fckng news! -
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wrfhsgovComment removed: Retracted by user
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fiftynine6 months, 3 weeks ago
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Please,please,please..You all know the Christian right,the compassionate conservatives..The family values people remind me of the ones that filled Romes amphitheaters..just wanting to watch the evil people meet justice,but to cowardly to do it themselves.
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If i remember my bible at all doesn't it say something about real Christians going to their closets to pray (not making a public display) and to love our enemy's ?
I can't say that i'm good at either but i don't believe in torture because it just doesn't work. -
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HOUSEMD6 months, 3 weeks ago
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this poll must have been commisioned by cnn. the sample was very small and i guess only it may only show that the "church goers" have a thought that tough interrogation may be morally superior to allowing your neighbor to be killed, even if he is a flaming liberal.
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Aidenag6 months, 3 weeks ago
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Nope, it was done solely by, and for the PEW Forum on religion and public life.
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http://pewforum.org/docs/?DocID=156 -
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ForrestPhelps6 months, 3 weeks ago
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To: HOUSEMD
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A few questions, if I may.
1 - We hanged Japanese soldiers who conducted waterboarding, because it was considered torture. So which is right, which is wrong - hanging Japanese soldiers or performing waterboarding?
2 - Do you really think any intelligence gained from torture can be trusted?
3 - Have any "flaming liberals" ever served our country and won citations and medals for bravery? -
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vor6 months, 3 weeks ago
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Do you people even watch CNN anymore? It is hardly a bastion of liberalism. The day they hired Glenn Beck was the day they repulsed most progressive thinkers. What were they thinking? He has moved on to his natural surroundings but the scars remain. Their ratings are also in the tank.
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And for HouseMD, I would point out to you that rigid conservative thinking is much more akin to the thinking of the Taliban and the likes of Al Qaeda than any liberal belief. Rigid dogma based thinking just isn't our thing. Nor is the combination of Church and State. Nor is the secondary status of women and gays. Nor is TORTURE.
It is the liberal values of America and much of the West these people hate. The freedom to think, to reason, to decide whether the Bible or the Koran should dominate ones life. The freedom to elect someone like Barack Obama. Even the freedom to dissent, which all of the sudden conservatives find quite acceptable.
Like conservatives these fundamentalist Islamists wish a return to the past. To a time that never really existed. A perfect time, when the world was supposedly a utopic place. The Reagan Years, the 13th Century, whatever, they were both times of great delusion where progressive thought was constricted.
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Mutainia6 months, 3 weeks ago
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When you believe in hell, it's easier to believe in the benefits of torture. I mean, if you believe God or, Allah, is going to torture you for your unbelief in some kind of hell, seems natural you will be more inclined to believe there is something even POSITIVE to torture.
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jakesguile6 months, 3 weeks ago
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Where the hell'd you get the abortion argument Georgia? Stay on topic please, nobody supports the butchering of little unborn babies. They support merely the right to choose. Obviously nobody would support the former, that's akin to supporting the slaughter of baby kittens, or throwing puppys into the grill of a semi truck. But I guess people like you who torture small animals don't make a distinction in your head, do you?
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HomerJS49Comment removed: Abusive
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HomerJS49Comment removed: Abusive
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scott42616 months, 3 weeks ago
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I have asked fellow Christians whom Jesus would torture and I have so far not gotten a response. Not only does torture run counter to all we have been taught as followers of Christ, but also to the fundamental principal of the writ of habeas corpus - going back to the Magna Carta in 1215. These are the principles upon which American and all western democracies are founded upon.
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How any truly spiritual person - Christian or otherwise - could support torture is beyond me. After all, doesn't it make us no better than the terrorists who attacked us on 9/11?
"Those who sacrifice essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety."
- Benjamin Franklin
"Love your enemies."
- Jesus -
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Natureboy6 months, 3 weeks ago
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Set aside for a moment the teachings of the historical Jesus, who was really just a gentle hippie far before his time, and deconstruct and examine the myths central to Xianity -
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An older white male authority figure who is so FREAKIN authoritarian he brought everything into existence by just saying so.
The Older White Male "The Father" created a place of endless torture for those who disobey him.
He made a book of rules that NOBODY follows perfectly, so everyone is in danger of extraordinary rendition to that bad place.
He watches everyone and everything, no privacy ever - 100% pure police state surveillance.
The only way we get off the hook for any of this is by believing what we are told to believe and by loving and sucking up to this obviously disturbed and dysfunctional authority figure.
Oh, yeah, forgot to mention, Daddygod was ****** at us, but let his own son take the rap for it instead, by torture unto death. Sonny is a softer touch than dad, they say, but not by much. Better make him your bestest friend or he will burn you in the lake of fire forever. Just what I'm looking for in my BFF.
These are some of the most basic memes on which the edifice of Christian belief is constructed. Is it any wonder that we see judgemental behavior and support for torture with the faithful? Their belief system is all about judgement and torture and evasion of torture through submission to (sadistic) authority.
I have said it before and will say it again - you can find the blueprints for Abu Ghraib and Gitmo and "Homeland Security" right in the basic Sunday School teachings of the church. Those of you who have swallowed this stuff (I did, at one time) I urge you to thrust your figurative fingers down your metaphoric throats and disgorge this toxic mythos - you will be healthier and happier for having done so. -
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lloydm656 months, 3 weeks ago
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Christians should never be just church goers.I fear many on propeller aren't either one.First I believe that denigrating Christians is considered an art form for democrats,and of course they don't care a whole for white folks who aren't ashamed of being that color.I am a born again child of God,very proud of it.Now about supporting torture I don't,but we are all sinners,and I sin every day.If someone being scared,and uncomfortable will cause them to tell when,and where then next 9/11 is going to be,I say go for it,but if your talking beheading reporters,taking our capture soldiers to a bridge,and hanging them over it then setting them on fire ,we would never do that.Sam Johnson,and John McCain have proof of real torture.Multiple fractures of arms,and legs,and ex rays to prove it.Having perfectly good pulled out just inflict pain.I know what your going say these men were repugs,and got their due.Physical torture is wrong.
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cowboygrandpa6 months, 3 weeks ago
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lloydm65:
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"Sam Johnson,and John McCain have proof of real torture.Multiple fractures of arms,and legs,and ex rays to prove it.Having perfectly good pulled out just inflict pain.I know what your going say these men were repugs,and got their due.Physical torture is wrong."
No one deserves torture !!! No one !!!!!!!!!!
You say you are a born again Christian. Yet you would add to the Sins Jesus Christ suffered for ?? Jesus died for all the sins, including the sin of torture.
Good luck explaining that one. Lets see how that might go.
Well God I knew Jesus Christ died for all the sins already so I wanted to stop more sin by committing sin. Yes I know that Jesus was tortured and died on the cross. What ?? You mean I should have looked at his torture and saw the evil in all men who torture. Well no, I never looked at it like that. Because I just knew that those who were being tortured deserved it. Whats that ?? How would I like to get what I deserve ??? Well yeah, I deserve heaven right ?? Uhhhh ?? No I don't want to go to hell. You mean I was supposed to have mercy on others and love my enemies ?? But I thought that was just rhetoric.
So many people don't get it. God is not messing around. But hey continue on with your ways. Good luck with that. -
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SandmonsterComment removed: Hard Banned
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Georgia506 months, 3 weeks ago
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The apostle Paul: "If I have done something deserving of death, I do not refuse to die."
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Liberal filth: "If terrorists are apprehended in the process of committing or conspiring to commit mass murder, we must define as torture ANYTHING that brings them the slightest possible discomfort and prosecute for war crimes--NOT the terrorist--but any official who brought them said discomfort."-
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Ciera-Marie6 months, 3 weeks ago
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And your comment right there proves that the modern church is a church of Paul not Jesus.
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I could name call you back but won't.
You didn't answer my question Georgia. We put to death Japanese officers for the use of waterboarding. We've condemned other world leaders for the practice of water boarding. Now under GW Bush and Company it's suddenly okay? Doesn't that make us hypercrites? Don't we then owe the families of the Japanese officers not just an apology but reparations?
And for the record, many liberals didn't like or condone Clintons actions. That's not the thread. Typical Republican. Rather than answer the question regarding Bush and Co bring up Clinton. How many Republicans, Neo Cons and right wingers stood up to Bush and Cheney and the use of torture?
You also avoided the question, would Jesus support torture? i know you won't answer it. BTW Paul isn't Jesus.
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jazzbeu-266 months, 3 weeks ago
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It occurs to me that "what Jesus would do" is not particularly relevent. Jesus never held elected office and never made statements about what governmental policies should be, other than saying that people should pay their taxes to Ceasar.
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As far as gathering intellegence, he seemed to have techniques that are not availble to the rest of us (i.e. the woman at the well whom announced that he told her everything she ever did.) It wasn't necessay for him to use torture.
I doubt most Christians favor widespread use of torture, but sometimes it is the lesser of the evils. It is a tough ethical decision--do you let thousands suffer and die because of what you don't know or do you torture a handful of known enemies to learn that information and possibly save the thousands? If we become so comfortable with either option that it is always our answer, we have become insensitive monsters. -
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