The U.S. government, President Bush says, does not torture people. Torturing people would violate the Geneva Convention and, perhaps, the Bill of Rights (“cruel and unusual punishment”) and, arguably, the teachings of W’s favorite philosopher — Jesus Christ (“love your enemies, etc., etc..)

However, if the federal government ever decides to start drawing and quartering undesirables, white Southern evangelicals won’t lose any sleep over it, a new poll suggests.

The poll, commissioned by Mercer University and Faith in Public Life, shows that most evangelicals believe torture is justifiable. They’re split, though, on how often it should be used.

The survey of 600 Bible Belt residents showed the following:
20 percent said it is “often justified” to use torture to extract important information from suspects.
37 percent said it is “sometimes justified” to torture suspects.
16 percent said it is “rarely justified.”
22 percent said it is “never justified.”
5 percent declined to answer or said they didn’t know the answer.

A majority of white Southern evangelicals (53 percent) don’t believe U.S. government denials that torture is taking place.

Pollsters also asked white Southern evangelicals who they plan to vote for. Sixty-five percent said John McCain, 14 percent said Barack Obama and 21 percent said they are undecided.

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