The Legacy of Blood Atonement? Gauging Mormon Support for the Death Penalty
American support for the death penalty has declined over time, but conservative religious groups have exhibited more favorable attitudes toward this practice than their mainline religious and secular peers. Scholars have generally overlooked Latter-day Saint (LDS, Mormon) support for capital punishm...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-02-01
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| Series: | Religions |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/14/2/208 |
| _version_ | 1797618458436829184 |
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| author | John P. Bartkowski Janelle Kohler John P. Hoffmann |
| author_facet | John P. Bartkowski Janelle Kohler John P. Hoffmann |
| author_sort | John P. Bartkowski |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | American support for the death penalty has declined over time, but conservative religious groups have exhibited more favorable attitudes toward this practice than their mainline religious and secular peers. Scholars have generally overlooked Latter-day Saint (LDS, Mormon) support for capital punishment. However, this faith tradition is a case worthy of careful examination. Historically, LDS leadership was supportive of the death penalty, which was congruent with their teachings on blood atonement, i.e., theological rationales for capital punishment as a just response to murder. However, Mormon leaders have more recently adopted a neutral position toward the death penalty. To what degree might changing social attitudes and flagging LDS leader endorsements of the death penalty have contributed to diminished grassroots Mormon support for capital punishment? This study uses data from the General Social Survey to test three hypotheses: (1) those with an LDS affiliation will exhibit greater support for the death penalty when compared with their non-Mormon peers, including other religious conservatives; (2) LDS support for the death penalty will diminish over time; and (3) LDS support for capital punishment will be bolstered by frequent Mormon worship service attendance. Using cross-tabulations, logistic regression, and time series analyses, the results indicate support for all three hypotheses. Implications and directions for future research are discussed. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T08:13:08Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-b699ca76da2c4fed8ad82d22361dd1cc |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2077-1444 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T08:13:08Z |
| publishDate | 2023-02-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Religions |
| spelling | doaj.art-b699ca76da2c4fed8ad82d22361dd1cc2023-11-16T22:59:35ZengMDPI AGReligions2077-14442023-02-0114220810.3390/rel14020208The Legacy of Blood Atonement? Gauging Mormon Support for the Death PenaltyJohn P. Bartkowski0Janelle Kohler1John P. Hoffmann2Department of Sociology, University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX 78249, USADepartment of Psychology, University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX 78249, USADepartment of Sociology, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602, USAAmerican support for the death penalty has declined over time, but conservative religious groups have exhibited more favorable attitudes toward this practice than their mainline religious and secular peers. Scholars have generally overlooked Latter-day Saint (LDS, Mormon) support for capital punishment. However, this faith tradition is a case worthy of careful examination. Historically, LDS leadership was supportive of the death penalty, which was congruent with their teachings on blood atonement, i.e., theological rationales for capital punishment as a just response to murder. However, Mormon leaders have more recently adopted a neutral position toward the death penalty. To what degree might changing social attitudes and flagging LDS leader endorsements of the death penalty have contributed to diminished grassroots Mormon support for capital punishment? This study uses data from the General Social Survey to test three hypotheses: (1) those with an LDS affiliation will exhibit greater support for the death penalty when compared with their non-Mormon peers, including other religious conservatives; (2) LDS support for the death penalty will diminish over time; and (3) LDS support for capital punishment will be bolstered by frequent Mormon worship service attendance. Using cross-tabulations, logistic regression, and time series analyses, the results indicate support for all three hypotheses. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/14/2/208Latter-day SaintMormonreligionfaithcapital punishmentdeath penalty |
| spellingShingle | John P. Bartkowski Janelle Kohler John P. Hoffmann The Legacy of Blood Atonement? Gauging Mormon Support for the Death Penalty Religions Latter-day Saint Mormon religion faith capital punishment death penalty |
| title | The Legacy of Blood Atonement? Gauging Mormon Support for the Death Penalty |
| title_full | The Legacy of Blood Atonement? Gauging Mormon Support for the Death Penalty |
| title_fullStr | The Legacy of Blood Atonement? Gauging Mormon Support for the Death Penalty |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Legacy of Blood Atonement? Gauging Mormon Support for the Death Penalty |
| title_short | The Legacy of Blood Atonement? Gauging Mormon Support for the Death Penalty |
| title_sort | legacy of blood atonement gauging mormon support for the death penalty |
| topic | Latter-day Saint Mormon religion faith capital punishment death penalty |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/14/2/208 |
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