Why the Faithful Approve of Torture
White Evangelical theology bases its view of Christian salvation on the severe pain and suffering undergone by Jesus in his flogging and crucifixion by the Romans. This is called the "penal theory of the atonement"--that is, the way Jesus paid for our sins is by this extreme torture inflicted on him.
For Christian conservatives, severe pain and suffering are central to their theology. This is very clear in the 2002 Mel Gibson movie, The Passion of the Christ. Evangelical Christians flocked to this movie, promoted it and still show it in their churches, despite the fact that it is R-rated for the extraordinary amount of violence in the film. It is, in fact, the highest grossing R-rated movie in the history of film. The flogging of Jesus by the Romans goes on for fully 40 minutes. It is truly the most violent film I have ever seen.
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So these folks support
So these folks support torture because God told them it would be alright? Amazing! I don't think black folk who are Christian fundamentalists support torture at least not to the degree found among white evangelicals. What factors do you suppose account for this difference? My paternal grandparents were foot-washing Baptists but I know they didn't support torturing other human beings. Where does the lack of empathy or, perhaps, humanity, among a segment of white Christian fundamentalists emanate from? Jesus' suffering on the cross and the beatings that he was given on the way to being crucified seems too pat an answer to me. This seems like a case for an old-fashioned Freudian analyst to me.
It reminded me of
It reminded me of flagellantism.
Yes, I agree. Interesting
Yes, I agree. Interesting article.
Even if we accept, for the
Even if we accept, for the sake of argument, that God wanted Jesus tortured for the sins of the world (there is Old Testament prophesies that he would be torture, not to say that God wanted him tortured), it doesn't necessarily follow that torture is okay. It should follow that torture is not ok. Right? If it was done to Jesus in the process of his cruxifiction, it's something that ought not be done. Right? The Romans were just so terrible during that whole episode that we refuse to follow in their example. At least, that's the way I've been taught.
I'm not sure political affiliation explains the white Evangelical position. I think it's the other way around. To answer your question, ptc, if I may give it a try, is that white Christianity stresses personal behavior. So, low taxes is okay on this personal basis because people earn money through personal effort and it's okay for Johnny to keep all the money he can. It's even better for Johnny to keep his money and not encourage whatever personal defects are keeping Joe from making as much. Just to try to walk through my theory. Black Christianity, on the other hand, stresses social as well as personal behavior. Society has to be as just and righteous as the individual. So, we prefer progressive taxes - society, as well as the individual, has an obligation to help the poor.
So when it comes to torture, black Christians are against it because for us, it about keeping society on the up and up. White Christians are okay with it because for them, the individual gets what he deserves. And I guess with some exception for abortion and gay marriage, society at large is a-sinful, if that's a word. It is now.