There appears to be a correlation between some types of religious beliefs and the willingness to torture, according to a recent PEW study [1].
Skeptico [2]looks at these results and asks some well-considered questions. He concludes:
Even so, significant or not, these results hardly support the view that religion (specifically Christianity) provides a moral compass, or that reading the Bible or going to church is necessary for one to be moral or good.
Skeptico also recommends a visit to the page where the Skeptics Annotated Bible [3] collects Bible passages concerning torture. And no, not all of these passages promoting torture are from the Old Testament.
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