Military Review English Edition March-April 2015 | Page 86

Under the current administration, the advancement
of freedom is a pillar of the current National Security
Strategy. The National Security Strategy, along with the
International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA), makes the
promotion of religious freedom a specific foreign policy
goal of the United States. At the heart of such values is
the freedom of conscience associated with religious liberty as stated in the National Security Strategy: “American
values are reflective of the universal values we champion
all around the world—including the freedoms of speech,
worship, and peaceful assembly.”7 The IRFA authorizes “United States actions in response to violations of
religious freedom in foreign countries,” codifying protection of religious freedom in other countries in statutory
policy.8
The growing concerns over religious influence are
reflected domestically in the number of organizations
engaged in religious lobbying or religious advocacy in
Washington, D.C. That number grew from fewer than 40
in 1970 to well over 200 today, with annual expenditures
topping $350 million spent to influence public policy
on behalf of the faithful. The growth is also evident in
part by the establishment of the White House Office of
Faith-Based and Community Initiatives (2001).9
Taken as a whole, these changes suggest a growth of
religion’s influence on U.S. domestic and foreign policy
that has reached an unprecedented level of institutionalization and legitimacy, presenting a first-order challenge to the Westphalian political order. In the context
of these developments, the protection of religious freedom, including the right to evangelize, is increasingly
being constructed as a legitimate basis for international
intervention. According to the IRFA, countries that
fail to protect “freedom of religious belief and practice”
are subject to the application of the “appropriate tools
in the United States foreign policy apparatus,” a clear
departure from the Westphalian construct of states
retaining sovereignty over actions that transpire within
their own borders.10
In contrast to the resurgence of religious overtones in American politics, the reemergence of Islam
as an important variable in world affairs is well
known from the rise of an Islamic government in
Iran in 1979 to the attacks of 9/11. In simpler and
balder terms, while the West—and more pointedly, the United States—has been pointing a secular
finger at the religiosity of Islamic extremist-based
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threats (nonstate, state-sponsored, transnational),
there are accusatory fingers pointing back toward
the West and the style of U.S. hegemonic leadership
in the Westphalian secular order.
The widespread belief in predominately Muslim
nations that the United States seeks to “weaken and
divide the Islamic World” demonstrates the necessity
to bring religious considerations into policy decisions.11
The role of religious groups in the overlapping transformations of war, aid, and evangelism should not be
understated as religious groups vying for secular state
power is a feature of the post-Cold War environment.
In the context of the current international environment, the United States faces two sometimes
conflicting values: self-determination versus religious
liberty. While self-determination is a principle of U.S.
foreign policy, the rise of Islamic governments that
threaten individual religious liberty runs counter to
the principles established in the IRFA. Though the
approach to resolving these two conflicting values is
unclear, what is clear is that the violation of either
principle may trigger an intervention into the internal
affairs of states that were previously held as inviolable
in the Westphalian system.
While the West may consider the question of separating religion from the secular power of the state a
bedrock principle of modern statehood, the separation
of religion from politics in the United States has been
more of a thin line than a wall. In the context of religion’s role in the modern international environment, an
examination of how religion shaped our own political
destiny is instructive in preparing military leaders to
deal with faith’s role in other countries when executing
U.S. foreign policy.

America’s Religious Tradition
The lyrics of one of America’s most popular patriotic songs, “My Country, ‘Tis of Thee,” illustrate that the
foundation of America’s notions of democratic liberty
can be found in Judeo-Christian scripture:
Our fathers’ God, to thee,
Author of liberty, to thee we sing;
Long may our land be bright
With freedom’s holy light;
Protect us by thy might, great God, our King.
-Samuel Francis Smith,
“My Country, ’Tis of Thee,” 4th Stanza
March-April 2015  MILITARY REVIEW