July 4, 2006

Faith and Foreign Policy

Dallas Morning News columnist William McKenzie's latest commentary, on the link between faith and foreign policy, is a must-read.

McKenzie writes:

What do Muslims in the Middle East, evangelicals in Texas and Pentecostals in Brazil have in common? More than you might expect, and enough to make us think about how they influence the globe. These are three of the most dynamic and fastest-growing religious traditions. If we don't understand them, the forces shaping everything from elections in the United States to upheavals in Latin America to policies in Iraq will sweep right by us.

With that windup, here's what these three have in common: a shop-floor approach to religion. No pope to guide them. Few big denominational headquarters. No super-imam to make a final ruling.

... This adaptability explains why many evangelicals have done so well at getting their message out about both religion and politics. Often members of independent Bible churches, they have few bureaucracies to wade through. That leaves them free to experiment with using technology to spread their vision, whether across pews or on Capitol Hill.

Come to think of it, evangelicals have a lot in common with the tech crowd. The normal tech company is fairly decentralized, with few hierarchies. It isn't what the corporate brass back in New York thinks, because, well, there is no corporate brass back there. Evangelical churches are similar because many of them do not belong to a larger denomination.

Pentecostals are mostly free-floaters, too, which is at least one reason their churches are multiplying across Latin America and Africa. Instead of speaking through bishops, they connect with individuals, giving voice to people who have grown weary of living under strongman leaders or a Catholic hierarchy.

The lack of a go-to guy in these traditions particularly presents a problem when it comes to Iraq. While the declarations from Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani matter to many Iraqi Shiites, there is no Sunni cleric with similar clout. So whom do our folks in Baghdad call to say, "Hey, you know, we really could use some help in controlling these insurgents"?

...These are the under-the-radar characteristics the United States needs to understand if it is going to deal effectively in parts of the world where religion plays a huge role. Some may find religion a yawner compared with seeing the world through traditional means of powerful politicians or the size of a nation's army, but those people risk missing what's really going on.