c. 2008 Religion News Service

(UNDATED) After appearing to recede for a time, the issue of torture bears renewed poignancy, thanks to Sarah Palin and a new survey that probes evangelical Christians’ opinions on so-called “enhanced interrogation techniques.”

You might recall Palin’s zinger aimed at Barack Obama during her acceptance speech at the GOP convention: “Al-Qaida terrorists still plot to inflict catastrophic harm on America _ and he’s worried that someone won’t read them their rights.”

Palin was obviously contending that the rights of detainees _ including the right not to be subjected to harrowing pain in the quest for intelligence _ were of little concern in the fight against terrorism. And now, new polling data shows that a solid majority of white evangelicals in the South (unlike the American population at large) believes torture is justified in the interest of extracting important information.

It seems puzzling at first: The most vocal followers of Jesus _ he who admonished his followers to turn the other cheek _ lining up more strongly than their fellow Americans in support for torture?

But maybe it’s not so surprising. Because hasn’t it been clear all along that, for many of the most politically active evangelicals, fidelity to the faith takes a back seat when it comes to power and politics?

Let me be clear: Terrorism and its perpetrators are a threat that must be confronted. Of course, Obama would be guilty of weak-kneed excess if he placed more emphasis on protecting al-Qaida terrorists’ rights than the lives of their would-be victims. But Obama and like-minded torture opponents advocate nothing of the sort. The concern is for innocent detainees _ too many of whom have been locked up and abused without access to due process _ and for the corrosive effect of torture on cherished American principles.

Then there’s the integrity of the Christian religion, already shredded, unfortunately, in the minds of many skeptical Americans. Last year, a book by Christian pollster George Barna, “unChristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks About Christianity … and Why It Matters,” detailed how young Americans tend to see Christianity debased by its attachment to right-wing politics and its seeming disinterest in the love and compassion parts of Christian teaching.

The new findings about evangelicals and torture certainly won’t help in that regard. The survey found that 57 percent of white evangelicals in the South believe torture can be justified. By comparison, an earlier poll by the Pew Research Center finds just 48 percent of the general public in support of torture.

Even more illuminating is this finding from the new poll: The evangelicals surveyed are far more likely to turn to life experience and common sense (44 percent) than Christian teaching (28 percent) in forming their opinion on torture. In other words, the segment of the population presumably most serious about their Christian faith is disinclined to be guided by the Bible on one of the central moral questions we face.

Crunching the numbers, pollster Robert P. Jones found a strong correlation between political party affiliation and opinions about the justifiability of torture. Nearly two-thirds of Republicans in this survey supported torture, in contrast with just 42 percent of Democrats.

The result is a less-than-flattering picture: evangelicals influenced more by partisan impulses than teachings of their faith when it comes to the crucial moral issue of torture. Aren’t these the folks who have been arguing that America needs to be guided, first and foremost, by Christian virtue?

From evangelicals’ general enthusiasm for an Iraq war that defied most interpretations of Christian just-war doctrine to their support for political figures and tactics that defy all standards of decency and honesty, we see a pattern of behavior conspicuously out of step with the book they claim as their manual for living.

To be sure, evangelicals have no monopoly on hypocrisy. Yet many politically active evangelicals have invited this scrutiny and critique _ by portraying themselves as more moral and “values”-driven than the rest of us, and as uniquely imbued with the will of God.

Is torture always wrong? We’ve all heard the scenarios about the necessity of extracting information from terrorists-in-the-know to foil their plots. If it were demonstrably true that torture would be effective in a given case and thus save thousands of lives, it’s difficult to say “never.”

Experts, however, point out that detainees in the throes of torture will say just about anything to end the pain. Even if could be demonstrated that torture might work in a given situation, it still cannot be squared with traditional Christian ethics about the treatment of human beings.

Torture is wrong _ and it’s wrong whether viewed through the lens of religious teachings, terrorism-fighting tactics or American concepts of due process and humane treatment of prisoners.

Yes, it’s a fair question: Who would Jesus torture? And more to the point: Who would egg him on?

(Tom Krattenmaker is a Portland, Ore., writer specializing in religion in public life and a member of the USA Today Board of Contributors. A version of this column ran in The Oregonian.)

KRE/LF END KRATTENMAKER