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U.S. Foreign Policy&Evangelicals
"Foreign Affairs" Vol. 85 num. 5
Article Review - Ken Emilio
We are being watched! 
"…Religion has always been a major force in U.S. politics, but the recent surge in the number and power of evangelicals is recasting the country's political scene - with dramatic implications for foreign policy. This should not be cause for panic: evangelicals are passionately devoted to justice and improving the world, and eager to reach out across sectarian lines…" - Foreign Affairs Magazine. Many Christians, myself included, become frustrated as we see our country move politically and morally in directions contrary to what our faith teaches. That frustration creates a desire to get involved in the political process. Christians, from the most liberal to the most conservative are spending great amounts of time and money trying to get the attention of our national and world leaders. Well, it seems like we are succeeding. Be careful what you wish for!
The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is the central driving force for Globalism in the world today. The CFR teaches and then influences its members in both public and private policy - members have included almost every U.S. President and major head of state for the past half century. The CFR publishes a magazine simply called Foreign Affairs.
Walter Russell Mead, a Senior Fellow for U.S. Foreign policy at the Council on Foreign Relations, has written an article for Foreign Affairs magazine. He encourages the members of the CFR to at first understand and then work with Evangelical leaders in creating and implementing foreign policy. Mr. Mead writes…
"…evangelical power is here to stay for the foreseeable future, and those concerned about U.S. foreign policy would do well to reach out. As more evangelical leaders acquire firsthand experience in foreign policy, they are likely to provide something now sadly lacking in the world of U.S. foreign policy: a trusted group of experts, well versed in the nuances and dilemmas of the international situation, who are able to persuade large numbers of Americans to support the complex and counterintuitive policies that are sometimes necessary in this wicked and frustrating - or, dare one say it, fallen - world." Mead sees a shift away from liberal and toward conservative Christian influence in U.S. foreign policy. He advocates that secular policy makers include, rather than exclude conservative evangelical leaders into the foreign affairs arena.
The article focuses on three main Protestant streams: Fundamentalists, Liberals and Evangelicals. Mr. Mead keys in on Protestants because he does not see other faiths, including Jews and Catholics being as influential.
The author observes that Evangelicals are the middle path and the most fertile concerning global issues. He affirms that Evangelicals are deeply concerned with such issues as Israel, Africa, women's and children's rights, poverty, famine and the environment to name a few. His approach is to channel the natural desires of Christians to influence their world by getting Evangelical leaders to join in the foreign policy making process.
Try as I might, I cannot criticize Walter Russell Mead's article. It is a powerful and in-depth look at the Church today. He is in no way critical of Fundamentalists, Liberals, Evangelicals or any other group, quite the contrary. I found myself learning from and appreciating his work. It presents one of the best descriptions of the various streams of the Church in America I have ever read. I recommend that you all get a copy of Foreign Affairs Magazine and read it for yourselves.
As I said, my problem is not with Mr. Mead. My problem is that as a Christian, I found myself squirming while being observed as if under a microscope. We are being observed by a very competent mover and shaker. Mead dispassionately points out how world leaders, (who are, IMO, committed to a secular humanist worldview), can and should make use of Evangelicals World leaders. The fact that world policy makers are so attune to and clinical regarding the Church, is unnerving!
I have great concern when secular world leaders advocate blending Evangelical leaders into their world system with the intent to… "…persuade large numbers of Americans to support complex and counter intuitive policies that are sometimes necessary…" This idea raises the specter of the kinds of syncretism warned about by Jesus and directed to the seven churches in Revelation chapter 2&3.
Ken Emilio
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Source
God's Country? - Walter Russell Mead / Foreign Affairs - September / October 2006 / Pg 24-43 / published by the Council on Foreign Relations
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Editor: from the title page, Foreign Affairs is published six times a year by the Council on Foreign Relations, an independent national membership organization and nonpartisan center for scholars. visit www.cfr.org. Interested readers may find Foreign Affairs in a library or bookstore such as Barnes&Noble.
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Photo Credit = U.S. National Archives - http://www.archives.gov/national-archives
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