What Would Jesus Do? 54% of American Christians Support Torture »
Posted By metavirus 6 months, 4 weeks ago in Religion
A new poll out today demonstrates that American Christians are gung-ho over torture. More than half of people who attend services at least once a week -- 54 percent -- said the use of torture against suspected terrorists is "often" or "sometimes" justified. Just like Jesus said: "Torture them, my brothers, for only through pain inflicted on the weakest among us shall thou reach the kingdom of heaven."
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PapaWolf6 months, 4 weeks ago
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OK. This is sick. I'm sorry - or glad - if I missed it, but NO WHERE in the bibles I've read (King James, Septuagint, etc) have I seen Jesus say torture was a good thing.
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My sister had a political cartoon from the Reagan era showing an old man wearing a Moral Majority button telling Jesus "If you're weak on defense, YOU can be replaced, too!"
Apparently, they're succeeded in replacing him.-
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metavirus6 months, 4 weeks ago
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Yeah, hard to square support for torture with the "Jesus is love" meme. Or this:
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Exodus 22:21 Do not mistreat an alien or oppress him, for you were aliens in Egypt.
Deuteronomy 27:19 Cursed is the man who withholds justice from the alien, the fatherless or the widow.
Psalm 9:9 The Lord also will be a stronghold for the oppressed, A stronghold in times of trouble.
Psalm 74:21 Let not the oppressed return dishonored; Let the afflicted and needy praise Your name.
Psalm 146:9 The Lord protects the strangers; He supports the fatherless and the widow, But He thwarts the way of the wicked.
Isaiah 29:20 For the ruthless will come to an end and the scorner will be finished, Indeed all who are intent on doing evil will be cut off. -
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UnusualSuspect6 months, 4 weeks ago
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I was raised Protestant, and was even considering joining the clergy in my teens, but I have to say this is one reason I'm not a big follower of organized religion anymore, and have become agnostic. People just don't follow the teachings.
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A good number of Christians I know are hypocrites. And I'm sure every religion has it's own hypocrites. They pray daily, or weekly, going to their house of worship, asking for help, asking for forgiveness, and yet commit the same sins again and again.
I make mistakes, and commit my sins, but I don't fake it by going to church under the guise of being a good Christian; I'm probably not. But I do try to follow the basics in trying to be a good person, and for me, favoring torture doesn't come close to being a good person, let alone a good Christian.
They say Christ died for our sins...and I think He's died a billion times over by now. The Second Coming? Ha! Why Christ would want to come back again, to be embarrassed by what's transpired the last 2000 years is beyond me.
He'd be locked up as a heretic, scorned, and ridiculed as soft.
He was great for his time, but His voice would not be heard today.
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dailyblueberry6 months, 4 weeks ago
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Everytime I get drunk, everytime I lust after another woman, everytime I am dishonest on my taxes, everytime I abort a child, everytime I...call someone a "dumbass", or withhold grace toward my neighbor, or use the scriptures to fit "my" objectives and not "His", or spank my son in anger, or am motivated by greed, or am too prideful, or am jealous of my neighbor's success, or kill someone who is not like me, or lie to prove a point, or eat until I'm miserable....I too nail Jesus to the Cross.
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scott42616 months, 4 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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rimbaud6 months, 4 weeks ago
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BigBadJohn6666 months, 4 weeks ago
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If the Bible is true, Jesus/God wil be the most cruel, inhumane torturer that will ever exist in all creation on judgement day. That is because he loves you so much. He will say, I love you, now go take a swim in the lake of fire. yeah
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coolrayfruge6 months, 4 weeks ago
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I don't agree in using torture as a way of gettin information
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because people can be forced into confessing into something they didn't do.
They would be willing to confess to any thing just to stop the torture.
I would think under cover infiltration of these groups would be more affective.-
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rimbaud6 months, 4 weeks ago
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Only if you've already done the police work can you be in a position to evaluate whether what your are getting from a torture is "intelligence" or "babble". Otherwise it's just a desparate fishing expedition and explains why you would torture someone hundreds of times.
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slate6 months, 4 weeks ago
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rimbaud6 months, 4 weeks ago
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cushi6 months, 4 weeks ago
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Those "folks" have been given a CHOICE and plenty of opportunity and instruction in order to make the right one. If they wind up in the lake of fire, it will be by their own doing. God does not wish that fate on anyone, nor does He go around picking people at random to punish. Obviously, there must come a time when the good and bad are sorted out and sent where they belong, otherwise, paradise will never exist.
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CHAM6 months, 4 weeks ago
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Scott, you ask your acquaintances a very profound question. Slate answered to say that God does torture. The sincere Christian would reply to Slate that the "burning in Hell" is a punishment, not a torture. And I would agree. The difference is that up to the moment of the ending of life, according to the Christian tenet, the burning Hell can be avoided simply by asking for forgiveness for one's sins.
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The fact that 54% of self proclaimed Christians accept torture as AOK says something about how well the Christians believe in what they profess.
But in a way we shouldn't be surprised. The Church itself is very guilty of some of the most heinous torture to ever occur. Read history about the Inquisitions and you will find this to be a fact. In fact water boarding was one of the favorite tortures of the Church during this period of time.
And I really agree with alakazam about nailing Jesus back to the cross.
In the end, only the evil torture, and those that torture are evil. The United States pressed for and received execution of Japanese and Germans who tortured by water boarding. Now our Government wants to say it is OK and not torture.
War for profit is practiced by our Government as a means of extorting from the people an income flow that benefits the rich and powerful. I look upon this as evil also. -
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AndyJ2156 months, 4 weeks ago
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TODAY'S GOP IS THE PARTY THAT CLAIMS TO HAVE CHRISTIAN "FAMILY VALUES," but promoted the TORTURE OF PRISONERS, in violation of international law, according to THE INTERNATIONAL RED CROSS.
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Conservatives hate to have to admit it, but Obama has already signed an order for the closing Guantanimo and has ended the efforts to move prisoners (known as “rendition”) to places where torture is less likely to be prosecuted.
And many in the GOP are still tring to evade the issue or TORTURE, or downplay, explain and justify it. Some even continue to deny that it ever occurred. Many keep calling it "enhanced interrogation," which is one of the most horrible euphemisms ever created.
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metavirus6 months, 4 weeks ago
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calitennflo6 months, 4 weeks ago
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Christ is doing this...waiting for man to learn...his words before he left were, you owe me. This means we owe ourselves...to be men in the first place, and from and back we go in judgement every step...Judged for not making a place for Mothers children or men.
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sonofreasonComment removed: Hard Banned
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cushi6 months, 4 weeks ago
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I am a Christian, I attend church regularly and I am a true believer in God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. I do not condone torture for ANYONE and I am vigorously petitioning my congressmen, and the President, to see that EVERYONE involved in torturing on behalf of the United States be arrested, tried and brought to justice. I don't believe people who truly believe in God support torture, when that is the opposite of what His word teaches us.
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chuck-the-canuck6 months, 4 weeks ago
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"I don't believe people who truly believe in God support torture, when that is the opposite of what His word teaches us."
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Are you trying to deny the Inquisition and witch trials? Christianity has always appealed to blood thirsty maniacs. -
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antibrainwasher6 months, 4 weeks ago
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First off, there is no god, only thousands of gods invented by kings and con men to hypmotize the ignorant morons, controlling them, sending them off the the afterlife to enrich the kings and con men.
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There is no god, no son of god, no afterlife. Its all a heaping pile of liquid crap.
No suprise, the superstitious inbred tribalists who are ranting and raving and barking like poodles for the GOP and Jesus, believe in torture, and breaking every law, as long as it makes them money.
The baby jew god you worship, you idiot hypocrites, was a liberal jew, obsessed with the poor and downtrodden. Yet, you mega-church going sister humping cowboy repugs thing the teenage jew was a rich conservative warmongering racist.
How stupid can you get, and still be alive. Its like these sub-human repug evangelicals are a different species, haven't yet evolved from primordial slime.
Be sure to visit the Creationist Museam in Cincinnati, you homeschooled psychopaths, see exibits of velociraptors pets sitting around the campfire with Texans.-
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dailyblueberry6 months, 4 weeks ago
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ABW, so you have no hope about anything, huh? I'll pray for you. :0)
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Jesus was concerned with the poor and downtrodden, yes!!! But I think it makes Him sad that we now have made our conduit to helping those folks, the government. It should be the people trying to be like Him. This is another reason, I think government should be smaller and that "we the people" should step up and take the lead in helping our neighbors. And yes, put a halt to torture.
He had no political persuasion. He was a man of example, not legislative bias. -
sonofreasonComment removed: Hard Banned
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Jeboba6 months, 4 weeks ago
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Anti! BRAVO! BRAVO! BRAVO!
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I was raised in the bible thumping church until I got old enough to do some of my own research and soul searching. It didn't take long to see right through the SHAM Christians. Brainless sheep being led by money grubbing pastors filling their heads with hatred and intolerance.
I ran as fast as I could and got away from it!
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BigBadJohn6666 months, 4 weeks ago
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If the Bible is true, Jesus/God wil be the most cruel, inhumane torturer that will ever exist in all creation on judgement day. That is because he loves you so much. He will say, I love you, now go take a swim in the lake of fire. yeah
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SandmonsterComment removed: Hard Banned
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Tcaros6 months, 4 weeks ago
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There's a difference between "religious people" and Christians.
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Religious people believe in works.
The "religious people" or the Pharisees in Jesus's days were hypocrites who quoted the laws. They were the ones who tried to "trip up" Christians. This is very similar to the religious right who thinks they can influence a society to behave how they see fit, but all the while they are hypocrites themselves.
That's why they believe in torture. Somehow torturing others for wrong makes them feel good about themselves, just like the Pharisees. -
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lloydm656 months, 4 weeks ago
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Most of the people on propeller are using their blackness as an excuse for their ignorance.I understand,I've met many of you.Your slave mentality is astounding,the democrats own you lock,stock,and barrel.Obama say's jump boy,how high massa.
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CHAM6 months, 3 weeks ago
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The poll counted only those who said they were Christians. Those that claimed to be such said at the rate of 54% that they approved of torture.
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It reminded me of years ago one day when my wife and I were visiting people we knew who were Assembly of God members. All was going fine until the lady of the house spoke up and said that God favored America because President Carter and the Christians of the United States supported Israel as the chosen people of God.
I asked the lady "Have you ever read Second John?" Yes she had. And then I asked, when you read it did you notice that the scripture said that the Anti-Christ you talk so much about going to come some day, is actually already on earth during the time of John? What, she asked, are you talking about?" Doesn't Second John say that John informed the people that the Anti-Christ is one who does not accept Jesus Christ as the son of God? Of course it doesn't she informed me.
I told her that was interesting because I could have sworn that I read that and it is in there as I stated, and since the Jew does not accept Jesus Christ as the Son of God, Wouldn't that by John's definition brand the Jew as the Anti-Christ?
She told me that before the second coming that the Jews would come to realize and accept Jesus as the Messiah.
If that's the case, I asked her, wouldn't they then become known as Christians?
We were never invited to visit again.
I do believe there is a God and that Jesus is his Son. And since I believe that, I am going to believe the Scripture. That puts me in the position of believing that the number of 144,000 as the quantity of Hebrew inhabitants of heaven there under the Law ( as quoted in Revelations ), means that at some time the Mosaic law was supplanted by a new order. Now that's change we can believe in.
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