Lauren Frances Turek
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- January 2021
- ISBN:
- 9781501748912
- eISBN:
- 9781501748936
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9781501748912.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Religious Studies
When American evangelicals flocked to Latin America, Africa, Asia, and Eastern Europe in the late twentieth century to fulfill their Biblical mandate for global evangelism, their experiences abroad ...
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When American evangelicals flocked to Latin America, Africa, Asia, and Eastern Europe in the late twentieth century to fulfill their Biblical mandate for global evangelism, their experiences abroad led them to engage more deeply in foreign policy activism at home. This book tracks these trends and illuminates the complex and significant ways in which religion shaped America's role in the late-Cold War world. The book examines the growth and influence of Christian foreign policy lobbying groups in the United States beginning in the 1970s, assesses the effectiveness of Christian efforts to attain foreign aid for favored regimes, and considers how those same groups promoted the imposition of economic and diplomatic sanctions on those nations that stifled evangelism. The book links the development of evangelical foreign policy lobbying to the overseas missionary agenda. Its case studies—Guatemala, South Africa, and the Soviet Union—reveal the extent of Christian influence on American foreign policy from the late 1970s through the 1990s. Evangelical policy work also reshaped the lives of Christians overseas and contributed to a reorientation of U.S. human rights policy. Efforts to promote global evangelism and support foreign brethren led activists to push Congress to grant aid to favored, yet repressive, regimes in countries such as Guatemala while imposing economic and diplomatic sanctions on nations that persecuted Christians, such as the Soviet Union. This advocacy shifted the definitions and priorities of U.S. human rights policies with lasting repercussions that can be traced into the twenty-first century.Less
When American evangelicals flocked to Latin America, Africa, Asia, and Eastern Europe in the late twentieth century to fulfill their Biblical mandate for global evangelism, their experiences abroad led them to engage more deeply in foreign policy activism at home. This book tracks these trends and illuminates the complex and significant ways in which religion shaped America's role in the late-Cold War world. The book examines the growth and influence of Christian foreign policy lobbying groups in the United States beginning in the 1970s, assesses the effectiveness of Christian efforts to attain foreign aid for favored regimes, and considers how those same groups promoted the imposition of economic and diplomatic sanctions on those nations that stifled evangelism. The book links the development of evangelical foreign policy lobbying to the overseas missionary agenda. Its case studies—Guatemala, South Africa, and the Soviet Union—reveal the extent of Christian influence on American foreign policy from the late 1970s through the 1990s. Evangelical policy work also reshaped the lives of Christians overseas and contributed to a reorientation of U.S. human rights policy. Efforts to promote global evangelism and support foreign brethren led activists to push Congress to grant aid to favored, yet repressive, regimes in countries such as Guatemala while imposing economic and diplomatic sanctions on nations that persecuted Christians, such as the Soviet Union. This advocacy shifted the definitions and priorities of U.S. human rights policies with lasting repercussions that can be traced into the twenty-first century.
Emily Cury
- Published in print:
- 2021
- Published Online:
- September 2021
- ISBN:
- 9781501753596
- eISBN:
- 9781501753619
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9781501753596.003.0007
- Subject:
- Political Science, American Politics
This chapter provides answers to the important question on why Muslim American interest groups continue to lobby on issues related to US foreign policy following 9/11. It describes the US Muslim ...
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This chapter provides answers to the important question on why Muslim American interest groups continue to lobby on issues related to US foreign policy following 9/11. It describes the US Muslim organizations' foreign policy activism that contradict their interests and fuel perceptions of Muslims as outsiders concerned with the interests of other nations. It also shows how foreign policy activism is seen as a means through which US Muslim organizations communicate their belongingness to America. The chapter talks about the Muslims in the United States who say they feel a strong sense of belonging to the ummah, the global Muslim community. It explains that for Muslims the sense of belonging can be to a country of origin, but it is mostly to the larger, global Muslim community and to the religious symbols of Islam.Less
This chapter provides answers to the important question on why Muslim American interest groups continue to lobby on issues related to US foreign policy following 9/11. It describes the US Muslim organizations' foreign policy activism that contradict their interests and fuel perceptions of Muslims as outsiders concerned with the interests of other nations. It also shows how foreign policy activism is seen as a means through which US Muslim organizations communicate their belongingness to America. The chapter talks about the Muslims in the United States who say they feel a strong sense of belonging to the ummah, the global Muslim community. It explains that for Muslims the sense of belonging can be to a country of origin, but it is mostly to the larger, global Muslim community and to the religious symbols of Islam.
