How Does Race Moderate the Effect of Religion Dimensions on Attitudes toward the Death Penalty?

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Thank you for sending this manuscript through for review. For the most part, the text contributes to a snapshot on how capital punishment and faith intersect in the USA. The following suggestions are strongly recommended to improve the manuscript.

1. There needs to be a clear and robust conceptualisation of ‘race’,’ ethnicity’ and ‘religion’ (as distinctive from faith or belief). These concepts are incredibly nuanced and debated and therefore should not be taken for granted.
2. More detail needs to be offered in terms of what constitutes someone who identifies as ‘black’ or ’white’. The author simplistically categorises these problematically. If the author wishes to keep such categories – which is not recommended – perhaps more detail can be as to why and how such categories are understood for the author.
3. Similarly, for ‘religion’ – one may identify with a religion but not practice. More nuance is needed.
4. On pg. 3 the author offers a section on dimensions of religion and talks of religiosity. Can this be elaborated upon? Is this a praxis or rather a faith/belief system, noting that a person can say one thing and do another?
5. Also, on pg. 3 the author makes a rather strange assumption that faith would equate with a lower tolerance of capital punishment. What is the basis for such an assumption especially since historically various crusades and violence has been undertaken in the name of one’s chosen god/belief system?
6. On pg. 4 ‘other’ is a nominal category – what consists within this category. More information is needed here.
7. 5-7 offers a breakdown of the data. It might be worthwhile to offer some statement as why such a quantitative method/methodology was chosen to inquire into a question which seeks to explore complexities and contradictions. The author would be prudent to address this.

My recommendation is that the text requires additional attention regarding the points above.

Author Response

We thank reviewer for reading our paper and providing useful comments and feedback. We followed reviewer's comments and made some changes in our paper based on their comments.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

In the discussion the article would be more theoretically grounded if the Author(s) includes some more theoretical considerations concerning the relationship between:

1. Race and religion
2. Emotions and rationality within religion (e.g. Rational Choice Theory)

Some statements in my opinion need also some more theoretical background or at least bibliography:

1). 19-20: Race and religion are important predictors in this regard. Race has a historically salient role in determining social relations in the U.S.

2). 70: Religious beliefs make up an important portion of racial identity in American society.

3). 83-85: Belief in a loving and forgiving God clearly contrasts with the vengeful reproving view of God. It is through this theological appeal to redemption rather than vengeance, that Blacks’ attitudes toward the death penalty have come to contrast with the Whites’ approach.

4). 347-348: The above results have several implications. First, religion may have a differential impact on death penalty attitudes for African Americans versus other racial groups. This implies that religion is not a race-neutral phenomenon and in the case of attitudes toward the death penalty it is moderated by one’s racial background.

5) 101-102: Based on the above discussion, we argue that religion is a complex construct several dimensions of which may have conflicting effects on people’s views toward the death penalty.

Structure:

Hypothesis in my opinion could be distinguished and written in more simple way. They are placed at least in two localizations: 111-115 and 173-177.

Other:

"Smith" is missing in the References

193: “Materials” for me sounds strange.

Author Response

We thank reviewer for reading our paper and providing useful comments and feedback. We followed reviewer's comments and made some changes in our paper based on their comments.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 3 Report

This article, in my opinion, is justified. It addresses a sensitive issue, the interplay between race and religion as a central element in trying to understand the perception of the death penalty in the United States.

Responses to the death penalty in the US are racialised and irrational perceptions according to the authors; this is consistent with other research on the same topic. It appears that perceptions are racialised, per se, perhaps because the questions asked are racially oriented. What if, for example, instead of whites or blacks, more "ethnic" dimensions (African Americans, Asians, Hispanics or Latinos) were addressed? Perhaps it might be more interesting or open up perspectives to ask new questions.

The religious and the racial elements are to be dealt with in a very special way because the ethnic, the religious and the racial are not always dissociated, they are imbricated. But being so does not mean that each of the three mobilizes the same things, and this level would require ethnographic contributions. 

Sorry for this digression. Thank you very much for your article.

Author Response

We really appreciate reviewer's time and consideration. There was no major change suggested by Reviewer 3.

Reviewer 4 Report

Please see the attachment

Comments for author File: Comments.pdf

Author Response

We thank reviewer's useful comments and feedback. We addressed all the reviewer's comments and changed our paper based on their feedback. Please see the attached.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

Thank you for sending this through - the changes all speak to my recommendations. 

Author Response

Thank you very much for your time and consideration.

Reviewer 2 Report

Just one more suggestion. This new theoretical paragraph needs any link with the following paragraph concerning Black and White. 

And maybe divide the first paragraph into two, in a way it distinguishes the theoretical (background) parts and empirical. 

Author Response

We appreciate reviewer's comments. Based on their feedback we separated the definition of religion. Also, we added new phrases to provide lucidity and transition. 

Reviewer 4 Report

The manuscript may be published in present form.

Author Response

Thank you very much for your time and consideration.