One of the questions that plagues my study of American religion is why there is such a frequent close correspondence between American Christianity and war making. This question displays my own liberal Protestant belief that violence should always be a last resort, and that churches and religious leaders should not be in the business of cheerleading for war. After studying American religion for two decades, I should know better---liberal, mainline, and conservative Protestants have all done it, and yet, I keep asking why.
Essays
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So, what about the Christian lobby?
by Gil AnidjarYou see, the interview on Al Arabiya confirms that the politics of fear can safely endure, barely disguised as the politics of love. It's (Christian) politics as usual, in other words. The extended hand of love and friendship---for the enemy---continues to veil the indisputable fact that there is only one iron fist in "the region as a whole."
A reason to remain hopeful
by Jen’nan Ghazal ReadDespite disappointment in Obama's arm's length approach during the campaign, the vast majority of Arab and Muslim American voters supported him on Election Day. They felt his domestic and foreign policies would be a vast improvement over his predecessor's. Like other Americans, they were hopeful. His recent televised interview on the Arabic satellite network, Al Arabiya, infused new life into that hope---hope that had been waning rapidly in the weeks leading up to the inauguration.
Obama reaches out
by John L. EspositoPresident Barack Obama has moved quickly to follow up on his inaugural statement: "To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect." He appointed and sent his special envoy to the Middle East, George Mitchell, to the region on an eight day trip. Then on January 28, on Al Arabiya, the prominent Arab satellite TV network, Obama addressed the Arab and Muslim worlds in his first televised interview from the White House.
Waking up to still being a faith-based nation
by Winnifred Fallers SullivanThe Bush administration has widely been assumed to have significantly favored evangelical Christian perspectives and organizations in its policies. A corollary of that assumption has been that regime change would return us to our natural secular condition. Preliminary evidence suggests that the first is indeed the case (although the changes had been initiated during the Clinton administration) and that the second is unlikely. [...]
Telling the American story
by John SchmalzbauerPresidential inaugurations are occasions for civil religious drama. The inauguration of Barack Obama was no exception.
Religious freedom & U.S. foreign policy
by Thomas F. FarrTen years ago today President Clinton signed the landmark International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA), a law its supporters hoped would put religious freedom at the core of American foreign policy. During the ensuing decade IRF policies have produced admirable and encouraging results, including humanitarian successes and institutional first steps toward altering the secularist culture at the State Department. However, it cannot yet be said that religious freedom is anywhere near the center of U.S. foreign policy. The next administration should elevate and broaden IRF policy in order to serve both the humanitarian and the national security interests of the United States. [...]
Welcome to the faith-based economy
by Arjun AppaduraiLast week as I listened, along with many other Americans and others around the world, to President Bush's most recent effort to reassure us about the current economic meltdown I had a "Road to Damascus" moment. It happened as I heard Bush repeat the word "faith". [...]
Being Benedict
by Cecelia LynchThe recent visit of Benedict XVI to the U.S. demonstrates once again the uncanny ability of the most influential popes to embody the prospects as well as highlight the contradictions of the Roman Catholic Church in the world. The Pope's visit conversely afforded an opportunity for U.S. Catholics, other people of faith, and the media to project onto Benedict their hopes and fears regarding the Church's global role as a moral leader in public life. [...]
An indifferent pope?
by R. Scott ApplebyHow far has the Catholic Church traveled in its almost 43 years as an advocate of religious freedom? Apparently, the journey has brought the Vatican to the brink of allying itself, however cautiously, with all believers whose search for the Truth of God has led them, or may be leading them, to endorse human dignity and human freedom as the basis for world order and cross-cultural, transnational peace.