“Setting the stage for Armageddon is not a defensible foreign policy. Peace is.”

Madeleine Albright seems to believe that a “historic opportunity” now exists to use common religious beliefs to build bridges between political parties in the United States and political factions elsewhere. Is this pie-in-the-sky wishful thinking, especially in an era characterized by rancorous and often religiously infused partisanship at home and spiraling civil conflicts in Africa and the Middle East? Does the fact that politically conservative Christians are finding new reasons to care about AIDS in Africa provide a sign that international humanitarian concerns might become more politically significant in Washington? Can religion become a reason for Americans to find their suffering neighbors in foreign lands? How might religion, so often a contributing cause in the world’s violent conflicts, become a conduit for new beginnings and possibilities for peace? And if, as Albright suggests, the United States now has no choice but to talk about God in our foreign policy discussions, how can we prevent our god-talk from inflaming dangerous religious hatreds?

Suggested Readings:
Madeleine Albright, The Mighty and the Almighty, Chapters 7, 9 and 11
The Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37)