Sanctity of Life or God’s Command? Investigating Religious Determinants of Attitudes Toward Three Cases of Unnatural Death

Capital Punishment, Abortion, and Euthanasia

Bibliographic Data

ID13629487
AuthorsSoheil Sabriseilabi (0000-0001-6939-777X, Troy University, corresponding author)
Year2023
Volume92
Issue4
Pages1754-1773
Publication date2023-11-03
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueOMEGA - Journal of Death and Dying (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0030-2228 • E-ISSN: 1541-3764
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/00302228231212658
PMID37922504
OpenAlexW4388280814
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited36

Whether individuals may decide to end other people's or their own lives has always been a matter of ethical and social debate. The current research explores attitudes toward three cases of unnatural death: capital punishment, abortion, and euthanasia. One considerable factor that shapes individuals' attitudes toward human intervention in death is religion. This paper argues that religion causes significant changes in individuals' mindsets toward human intervention in the death process. Therefore, the present research examines how religion affects attitudes toward the death penalty, abortion, and euthanasia. This study proposes differentiating religion into four dimensions: religiosity, spirituality, afterlife beliefs, and religious affiliation. Using data from the 2018 wave of the General Social Survey (GSS), the present research found that religion's various dimensions have distinct effects on attitudes toward the death penalty, abortion, and euthanasia

Abortion · Afterlife · Capital punishment · Criminology · Intervention (counseling · Psychiatry · Punishment (psychology · Religiosity · Spirituality · Theology · Criminal Justice and Corrections Analysis · Grief, Bereavement, and Mental Health · Medicine · Psychology · Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology · Social Psychology

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