Capital Punishment - Atheists versus Christians

Notedstrangeperson

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A spin-off from this thread: so far most people are against it.
Interestingly on that particular thread, the amount of people who support the death penalty is highly mixed - there doesn't seem to be a great deal of distinction between atheists and christians.

Do you think Christians (or theists in general) are more likely to support capital punishment than atheists - or vice-versa?
 

revanneosl

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Before everybody starts guessing, here's some actual data.

The answer is: Christians (both Catholic and Protestant) are more likely to support the death penalty than those who claim no religious preference.

Christians' (both Catholic and Protestant) support for the death penalty declines proportionately with their frequency of church attendance.

Protestant Christians are more likely to support the death penalty than Catholic Christians.
 
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Kalevalatar

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Before everybody starts guessing, here's some actual data.

The answer is: Christians (both Catholic and Protestant) are more likely to support the death penalty than those who claim no religious preference.

Christians' (both Catholic and Protestant) support for the death penalty declines proportionately with their frequency of church attendance.

Protestant Christians are more likely to support the death penalty than Catholic Christians.

The answer is: US-American Christians (both Catholic and Protestant) are more likely to support the death penalty than those who claim no religious preference.

US-American Christians' (both Catholic and Protestant) support for the death penalty declines proportionately with their frequency of church attendance.

US-American Protestant Christians are more likely to support the death penalty than US-American Catholic Christians.

Fixed it for you to reflect the actual poll. Christianity in the United States of America tends to be a breed of its own. Polling Christians worldwide may produce completely opposite results. Except for the Belarussian dictatorship, no other Christian-majority country in the world embraces state-sanctioned murder save the United States of America. The United States of America keeps company with China, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Syria, Libya, and the likes.
 
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revanneosl

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I apologize for the US-centric character of my post. Usually I am not so dumb as to imagine that the US is the entirety of the world. My only excuse is that it is first thing in the morning for me right now, and I was not fully caffinated when I posted.
 
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Fenny the Fox

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I do feel it is likely part to do with where data is collected. The US tends to be more traditionalist about such things than some other nations. Though, were you to take a poll of other religions, the differences may well vary - they should try do a more inclusive poll for Jews, Muslims, etc. [if not non-Judeo-derived religions as well].

It is interesting to note that support for the death penalty fell for those religious individuals who attended service more often. And it would be interesting to see if that trend continued in other places/for other religious bends.

But, get down to it, you will find that while Christian may be more inclined (for whatever reason) to support the death penalty, all groups, save a very small few, support it more than they do not. Food for thought, if you ask me.
 
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Lovely*Lily

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Before everybody starts guessing, here's some actual data.

The answer is: Christians (both Catholic and Protestant) are more likely to support the death penalty than those who claim no religious preference.

Christians' (both Catholic and Protestant) support for the death penalty declines proportionately with their frequency of church attendance.


Protestant Christians are more likely to support the death penalty than Catholic Christians.

That is very interesting especially that ^^ in bold. I can't honestly understand why that is true...?
 
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Notedstrangeperson

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mzungu said:
The statistics are pretty consistent. This is due to the American mentality. Were this question to be asked worldwide then I suspect that the results would vary greatly.

Good point. Apparently in Japan as much as 85% of the population supports the death penalty. Most Japanese people say they have "no religion", and most the the religions they did have (such as Buddhism) were non-theistic.

revanneosl said:
Christians' (both Catholic and Protestant) support for the death penalty declines proportionately with their frequency of church attendance.
Lovely*Lily said:
That is very interesting especially that ^^ in bold. I can't honestly understand why that is true...?
Possibly because most churches oppose the death penalty. Judaism and Islam are more mixed, as are atheists and people with "no religious preference".

The reason so many Christians in the USA support capital punishment is most likely political.
 
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Lovely*Lily

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Good point. Apparently in Japan as much as 85% of the population supports the death penalty. Most Japanese people say they have "no religion", and most the the religions they did have (such as Buddhism) were non-theistic.


Possibly because most churches oppose the death penalty. Judaism and Islam are more mixed, as are atheists and people with "no religious preference".

The reason so many Christians in the USA support capital punishment is most likely political.

Thank you. I didn't realize that.
 
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mzungu

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Good point. Apparently in Japan as much as 85% of the population supports the death penalty. Most Japanese people say they have "no religion", and most the the religions they did have (such as Buddhism) were non-theistic.


Possibly because most churches oppose the death penalty. Judaism and Islam are more mixed, as are atheists and people with "no religious preference".

The reason so many Christians in the USA support capital punishment is most likely political.
Well spoken. Like I said, if a poll was done internationally then we would have seen inconsistencies. Japan is a case in point. Up till the end of WW2 the Japanese believed that ONLY the Emperor and his immediate family were worthy of life and everyone else especially foreigners were expendable.

Americans tend to associate their beliefs as one homogeneous entity; Thus their political party, their church, their country are indistinguishable between themselves and are ONE!

Americans have turned Christianity into a political party! :angel:

But that is America. They are entitled to their own brand of culture.

I would have liked to see an international poll!
:wave:
 
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Jase

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The statistics are pretty consistent. This is due to the American mentality. Were this question to be asked worldwide then I suspect that the results would vary greatly.
Aren't we like the only one, or one of the only western nations who still has the Death penalty? Pretty sure most of Europe, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, etc. all oppose it. Heck, places like Norway with extreme high qualities of living, don't even have life imprisonment technically.
 
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Jase

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Just a nitpick - There is no such thing as 'State-sanctioned murder'.
Good point. Murder gets thrown around a lot, especially in abortion cases. Murder is a very specific legal definition. In law, execution is justifiable homicide.

Second- Where is your data to back up the claim that non-US Christians are more opposed to the death penalty?
I don't have the data at the moment, but I'm assuming it's based on the fact that most of the western world besides us does not have the death penalty. Now whether that's due to more secular populations in the rest of the western world, or merely due to our odd brand of fundamentalist/evangelical Christianity in the US, I don't know.

Edit: Found a list of countries without the Death penalty.

http://www.amnesty.org/en/death-penalty/abolitionist-and-retentionist-countries

Albania, Andorra, Angola, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bhutan, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Burundi, Cambodia, Canada, Cape Verde, Colombia, Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Cote D'Ivoire, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Estonia, Finland, France, Gabon, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Holy See, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Kiribati, Kyrgyzstan, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malta, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Mexico, Micronesia, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Mozambique, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niue, Norway, Palau, Panama, Paraguay, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Rwanda, Samoa, San Marino, Sao Tome And Principe, Senegal, Serbia (including Kosovo), Seychelles, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Timor-Leste, Togo, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Venezuela

And this is countries with the death penalty for ordinary crimes:

Afghanistan, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belize, Botswana, Chad, China, Comoros, Democratic Republic of Congo, Cuba, Dominica, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Guinea, Guyana, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Lesotho, Libya, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nigeria, North Korea, Oman, Pakistan, Palestinian Authority, Qatar, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saudi Arabia, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Taiwan, Thailand, Trinidad And Tobago, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, United States Of America, Viet Nam, Yemen, Zimbabwe


Anyone notice a trend? While there are some exceptions in both categories, the overwhelming majority of the 1st world opposes the death penalty, while the overwhelming majority of the 3rd world supports it.
 
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Jase

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Here is a pictoral map of the death penalty:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_punishment

800px-Death_Penalty_World_Map.svg.png


There is no concrete way to base this by religion, aside from the fact that the majority of 1st World nations (Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Western Europe) and South America, which tend to be the most "Christian" parts of the world (although more likely to be liberal/moderate Christians) oppose it, while the 3rd world Islamic nations and ultra conservative Christian nations (i.e. Uganda) support it. China has one of the worst death penalty offenses, which is an odd exception.

The only conclusion I can personally draw from this, is the more conservative the religious views as a nation, be it Christian or Islamic, the more likely they are to support the death penalty. China, India, and Japan being a few odd exceptions.
 
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razeontherock

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Except for the Belarussian dictatorship, no other Christian-majority country in the world embraces state-sanctioned murder save the United States of America. The United States of America keeps company with China, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Syria, Libya, and the likes.

Perhaps you meant capital punishment in lieu of the bolded phrase? Anyway, do you have any idea of the population in the US penal system? It's a good sized Country! Care to turn that into a %, re: capital punishment?

Do your homework and you'll find your comment I quoted here needs to be amended. (We do have a drastic problem on our hands though)
 
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razeontherock

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I find it ironic, after hearing about these statistics, that Christians support the death penalty more and at the same time claim to be pro-life.

Where's the irony? US morality is about me and what I want. "I" (typically) don't want violent criminals harassing me, and a veritable holocaust of the unborn is ... in no way a good thing.
 
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razeontherock

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Americans tend to associate their beliefs as one homogeneous entity; Thus their political party, their church, their country are indistinguishable between themselves and are ONE!

This is an odd perception. I've rarely known anyone with that sort of mentality; rather, US is more about individualism. (Which hurts the Church)
 
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