The Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion & Public Life conducted polls in 2009. The surveys discovered that the religious Americans are more likely to believe that torture of suspected terrorists is justifiable.
Five years after the survey was conducted, a new poll was done and it was discovered not much has changed.
The new poll, conducted by the Washington Post and ABC News, found that more Christian Americans, compared to non-Christians, find that CIA "treatment of suspected terrorists" is acceptable.
Among those surveyed, the poll discovered that Christians are more prone to support torture than non-religious.
One of the questions asked was "Do you personally think the CIA treatment of suspected terrorists amounted to torture, or not?". The majority of those surveyed replied that the abuses were not considered torture. It was typically non-religious Americans who were quick to say that "enhanced interrogation techniques" were considered torture.
Another question in the poll was "All in all, do you think the CIA treatment of suspected terrorists was justified or unjustified?" Most respondents answered yes. Those who identified themselves as non-religious however claim that torture was not justified.
Non-religious respondents were one of the few subsets of people who were against torture, and not just compared to Christian Americans. Respondents across various racial, gender, age, economic, educational, and regional backgrounds were more prone to find torture defensible.
