Saddleback Shines Light on Faith/Foreign Policy Link

Saturday's Saddleback Civil Forum could go down as the most important pre-convention event of the 2008 general election. Pundits continue to pontificate on the forum's "winner," with host Rick Warren the only consensus answer. Lost in the chatter is any analysis of what the candidates' answers to Pastor Rick might mean for foreign policy in both the campaign and in the next administration.

Senator Obama's compelling conversion to Christianity and authentic religious outreach campaign has narrowed the "God Gap" between Democrats and Republicans. He was at ease discussing his personal faith with Warren. On policy issues, Senator Obama's best moments came when discussing how faith informs his foreign policy priorities. Warren clearly cares deeply about global affairs; he and Obama nearly completed each others' sentences when talking about AIDS in Africa, genocide and international orphans. Getting God could help progressives both in articulating their values and redeeming America's global role.

Such an exchange has precedent in progressive thought. President Truman's post-World War II grand strategy fused principle and pragmatism, and drew on the religious thought of advisers like Reinhold Niebuhr. Reviving such ties could do great service to a progressive U.S. foreign policy. It would also provide a much-needed response to the theologically-laden triumphalism of President Bush's neoconservatism. Senator McCain's brash and utterly meaningless pledge to follow Osama Bin Laden "to the gates of Hell" is yet another sign that the rumors of neoconservativsm's death have been greatly exaggerated.

While the Democrats have been successful in their recent religious outreach, this has been largely isolated from the party's leading foreign policy minds. Democratic foreign policy circles vacillate between focus group-generated policy ideas, but have yet to come up with a worldview behind those ideas as captivating as FDR and Truman's liberal internationalism. This has left the Democratic Party struggling to articulate a grand strategy that both affirms the importance of American leadership in the global arena and emphasizes progressive approaches to international engagement.

The moral vision of this strategy could be provided by the ethical convictions of religious Americans who find Senator Obama's candidacy compelling. These voters believe that America's unprecedented power can be fused with its deepest moral convictions. As Warren put it, "we are blessed to be a blessing." This includes evangelical support for Bush's anti-AIDS program and Catholics who remember the combination of material power and moral vision that broke the Soviet hold over Eastern Europe.

And while America's power will often take the form of economic development and disaster relief, these voters accept that it will also involve the use of military force. Such force remains central to combatting terrorist networks and resisting humanitarian horrors like genocide. Senator Obama echoed the voices of diverse religious Americans when he decried the ongoing genocide in Darfur, and acknowledged America's moral responsibility to be actively involved in halting such disasters.

These religious voters can also help remind Democrats about the nature of evil in the modern world. On the one hand, evil exists and ought to be opposed to the best of our ability. The United States should not hesitate to oppose the moral failings of both friend and foe. At the same time, an honest understanding of evil adds much needed humility to the use of America's power. The United States cannot achieve final victory over evil, and is not immune from moral failure in pursuit of justice. A new dose of this exceptional humility would also serve the United States well in improving America's image abroad.

Finally, these groups understand the universal human dignity that provides the basis for the international community. Evangelical Christians, Jewish Americans, Latino Christian immigrants and others understand that the same Divine spark shines in the eyes of people in all corners of the world. Protecting human dignity can unite Americans and our allies across civilizational borders.

Senator Obama touched on a number of these themes in his best answers at Saddleback, although in a piecemeal fashion. He should now move them from sharp interview answers to developed parts of his foreign policy strategy. Senator Obama argues on a regular basis that we need a new kind of politics that unites people of good will and moves beyond the stale divisions of the political past. The engagement between religion and foreign policy presents a unique opportunity to translate this rhetoric into concrete action, elevating U.S foreign policy and turning religion from a wedge issue into a unifying force. .

David Buckley is a doctoral candidate at Georgetown University. Peter Henne is a Security Fellow with the Truman National Security Project and a doctoral candidate at Georgetown.

By David Buckley and Peter S. Henne |  August 19, 2008; 10:52 AM ET
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