New Evangelical Poll Shows Golden Rule Moves Attitudes on Torture
by Staff
September 19, 2008
ATLANTA, (christiansunite.com) -- The results of a new poll show that while Southern white evangelicals are more likely to hold a more extreme view on torture than the general public, their views can be changed when reminded of the teachings of Jesus. The new poll, released on Sept. 11 at the National Summit on Torture at Mercer University's Atlanta campus, was commissioned by Faith in Public Life and Mercer and conducted by Public Religion Research base on polling from white evangelical Christians in the South.Among the findings: close to six-in-10 white evangelicals in the South say that torture can be often (20 percent) or sometimes (37 percent) justified in order to gain important information. This compares to roughly half (48 percent) of the general public who believe that torture can be justified, according to a recent Pew Research Center poll (February 2008).
Despite high levels of religiosity, white evangelicals in the South are significantly more likely to rely on life experiences and common sense (44 percent) than Christian teachings or beliefs (28 percent) when thinking about the acceptability of torture. These different sources of moral thinking lead to strikingly different attitudes.
Among those influenced by Christian teachings, a majority (52 percent) oppose torture--14 points higher than white evangelicals in the South overall. In contrast, among those who rely most on life experiences and common sense, less than one-in- three (31 percent) oppose torture.
A majority (52 percent) agree with the Golden Rule argument against torture--that the U.S. government should not use methods against our enemies that we would not want used on American soldiers. This movement represents a 14-point increase from the 38 percent of white evangelicals who initially said that torture is rarely or never justified. Appeals to three other moral and theological frames did not significantly influence views on torture.
An appeal to the Golden Rule increases opposition to torture among every subgroup of white evangelicals. For example, only about one-third (34 percent) of white evangelicals who attend worship services more than once a week say torture is never or rarely justified, but a majority (50 percent) of this group was persuaded by the Golden Rule argument against torture. This represents a 16-point shift in opinion among the most frequent attending white evangelicals in the South.
"The good news is this poll reminds us that in torture, as with any issue, when Christians remember that our calling is to follow Jesus, he changes everything," said the Rev. Tyler Wigg-Stevenson, director of the Two Futures Project and a Baptist minister. "By framing the question around the golden rule, we're helping a lot of evangelicals who initially came at the issue using non-Christian principles to make their decisions based on Christian teaching and belief."
The findings prompted David Gushee, conference organizer and Distinguished University Professor of Christian Ethics at Mercer, to challenge presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain to make a stand against torture a central tenet of their campaigns.
"Use the golden rule position to lead on torture - it is religiously, morally, and politically compelling, and people respond to it," Gushee said. "Say it: we must never do to people of another country what we would not want done to our troops."
About Mercer University:
Founded in 1833 by Georgia Baptists, Mercer University is a comprehensive, faith-based university enrolling more than 7,600 undergraduate, graduate and professional students in 11 schools and colleges on major campuses in Macon, Atlanta and Savannah. For more information, visit www.mercer.edu.
