ABSTRACT
American Christianity is an amazingly wide-ranging phenomenon; and one that, in so many ways, is full of political purpose. The nature of American Christianity has been extensively surveyed. Those who research on the subject can be members of the Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies, a body which produces its own ten yearly ‘Religious Congregations Membership Study’ (https://www.asarb.org/index. html). Individuals can engage in online assessments of how ‘normal’ their own religious belief is. Were I a college-educated American Protestant male aged between 36 and 55, I would be among 42 per cent of my cohort if I attended church every week or more; among 23 per cent if I believed that ‘The Bible should be taken literally, word for word’; and among 83 per cent who believe that Jesus is the ‘son of God’ (Association of Religion Data Archives 2005). The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life has produced from its detailed work a profile of faith across the United States; and from this, it is clear that America is an overwhelmingly Christian nation, with over 79 per cent of the population professing some form of Christianity (Table 9.1). Of this range of Christian traditions, that which is most often focused on in terms of
politics is the grouping that can be termed the Christian Right, or what Woodberry and Smith (1998: 25) term ‘Conservative Protestants’. The Princeton Religion Research Report has shown how ‘evangelicals’ have increased steadily, from 34 per cent in 1975, to 45 per cent in 2000 (Wheaton College 2002). The National Association of Evangelicals has 30 million members, in 45,000 churches (https://www.nae.net/) and the Southern Baptist Convention over 16 million members in 42,000 churches (https://www. sbc.net/aboutus/). Around 78 per cent of those who might be termed Conservative Protestants who voted turned out for George W. Bush in the 2004 presidential election on a turnout of some 63 per cent, a 10 per cent gain on the vote in 2000 (Pew 2004). Yet despite these characteristics, it has been relatively rare to consider how Chris-
tianity, and how Christian groups, might impact upon the foreign policy-making of the American state. In The Review of Faith and International Affairs, a group of authors suggested that ‘only recently has the role of religious faith in shaping foreign policy been taken seriously’ (Guth et al. 2005: 3). Most of that interest has followed the attacks of 11th September 2001, and most of the focus has been on faith in states outside America. But what if we turn the lens inward? What impact could faith have on American foreign policy-making? As Marsden has argued, ‘Since the events of 9/11, the Christian Right have had greater opportunity to influence US foreign policy than ever before’ (Marsden 2008: 245).
