To Bring the Good News to All Nations: Evangelicals, Human Rights, and U.S
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To Bring the Good News to All Nations: Evangelicals, Human Rights, and U.S. Foreign Policy, 1969-1994 Lauren Frances Turek Woodbury, CT Master of Arts, University of Virginia, 2009 Master of Arts, New York University, 2007 Bachelor of Arts, Vassar College, 2005 A Dissertation presented to the Graduate Faculty of the University of Virginia in Candidacy for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of History University of Virginia August 2015 © Copyright by Lauren Frances Turek All Rights Reserved August 2015 ii Abstract “To Bring the Good News to All Nations: Evangelicals, Human Rights, and U.S. Foreign Policy, 1969-1994,” traces the development of evangelical Christian foreign policy lobbying groups in the United States beginning in the 1970s. In contrast to scholarship on the ascendancy of the religious right as a domestic political force, this dissertation focuses on how foreign missionary work contributed to the creation of an influential evangelical lobby with distinct interests in the trajectory of U.S. foreign relations. The vast expansion of evangelical Christianity throughout the world during the 1970s and 1980s nurtured ties between American evangelicals and their co-religionists abroad, creating a diffuse yet energetic global network of faith-based non-state organizations and actors. Drawing on materials from religious as well as government archives in the United States, Guatemala, and South Africa, this project reveals that American missions in Central America and Africa, and efforts to support persecuted evangelicals in the Soviet bloc, played a decisive role in shaping U.S. foreign relations. It argues that evangelicals pushed 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. In the process, evangelicals developed a limited yet unique perspective on human rights abuses in Eastern Europe and the Global South, which interacted in powerful ways with the revival of human rights activism in the 1970s more broadly. This dissertation adds an important cultural dimension to the study of American foreign policy and politics. In elucidating the international outreach efforts of an influential, globally interconnected group of co-religionists, it places the rise of the religious right in the United States in a global context. Evangelicals viewed themselves as members of a transnational community of believers, and this identity provided the foundation for their political activism. iii Furthermore, this project exposes how Christian interest groups blended their religious beliefs and conservative political ideology to drive national discourse about American foreign relations. In so doing, it shows that their lobbying efforts guided official decision making on key issues. Finally, this dissertation contributes to the growing literature on human rights during the 1970s by demonstrating that evangelical lobbyists used human rights language to influence how policymakers interpreted state violence and repression abroad. In this manner, it uncovers the important role that religious non-state actors have played in shaping international politics and human rights norms. By interrogating the complicated interweaving of evangelical religious convictions, human rights, anti-communism, and foreign affairs, “To Bring the Good News to All Nations” advances our understanding of the diverse factors that drove international relations in the twentieth century. It also underscores key historical moments when religious and ethical values infused American foreign policy, illuminating how American religious culture has melded with core national values to shape the role of the United States as a world power. iv Acknowledgements We often think of researching and writing a dissertation as a solitary task, but I have found the opposite to be true. Throughout this long endeavor, I have been blessed with more help and support than I could possibly deserve from many wonderful advisors, colleagues, family members, and friends. I am profoundly grateful to Melvyn Leffler, who has been a tireless champion of this project from the very beginning. Mel shepherded me through my graduate studies expertly, encouraging me to tackle my coursework strategically and providing me with the freedom I needed to develop as a young scholar. His generous and rigorous feedback encouraged me to write clearly and think incisively. His insights and suggestions have improved my work—and this dissertation—immeasurably. Mel ensured that I had the resources that I needed to pursue my research and his pep talks inspired me to persevere when challenges emerged; he seemed to know instinctively when to provide a kind word or a firm but supportive push to move forward. I cannot imagine a better mentor or role model. Mel is an unparalleled scholar, thinker, and advisor, and I count myself lucky every day to have had the honor of working with him over the past seven years. I also owe a debt of gratitude to a number of other scholars at the University of Virginia who have nurtured this project and aided me in my studies. My dissertation committee—Brian Balogh, Marc Selverstone, and Matt Hedstrom—provided insightful commentary and invaluable support. Valarie Cooper introduced me to the fascinating world of Pentecostalism and played a significant role in shaping this project. I benefited greatly from discussions with Brian Owensby about Latin American history and about Christian missionary work and empire, as well as from his tips on conducting research in Central America. John Edwin Mason shared his expertise on v South African history with me and kindly connected me with his friends and colleagues in Cape Town, ensuring that I had both a productive and enjoyable visit to South Africa. Phyllis Leffler supported my love for public history and museum work, providing me with opportunities to develop leadership experience and build on my exhibition design background, which substantially improved my prospects on the academic job market. Jennifer Burns offered me encouragement early on in graduate school, offering indispensable professional advice in addition to a crash course on the history of American Christianity. Rhonda Barlow, Kate Geoghegan, and Emily Senefeld deserve special thanks. I could not have asked for better colleagues and friends in graduate school. I will cherish forever the long conversations, unflagging support, and comradeship that we shared during our time together at the University of Virginia. I had the tremendous good fortune to spend the 2014-15 academic year at the John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics at Washington University in St. Louis. The faculty and staff there provided unparalleled support for this project. I thank Darren Dochuk in particular for his suggestions and insights on the dissertation. Darren, Laurie Maffly-Kipp, Leigh Schmidt, Marie Griffith, Mark Valeri, Lerone Martin, Rachel Lindsay, Ronit Stahl, Maryam Kashani, Stephanie Wolfe, Sheri Peña, and Debra Kennard all offered invaluable feedback on my work and a congenial intellectual home for the year. I could not have researched and written this dissertation without the generous financial support that I received from The John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics at Washington University in St. Louis, The Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture at the University of Virginia, the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations, the American Historical Association, the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation at the University of Virginia, the vi University of Virginia Society of Fellows, the Billy Graham Center Archives/The Torrey M. Johnson, Sr. scholarship fund, The Institute of the Humanities and Global Cultures at the University of Virginia, the Corcoran Department of History at the University of Virginia, and the Robert J. Huskey Travel fund at the University of Virginia. Countless archivists assisted me in my research. All deserve commendation, but I owe special thanks to Bob Shuster at the Billy Graham Center Archives and Thelma Porres, Blanca Velásquez, Anaís García Salazar, and all of the other staff members at the Centro de Investigaciones Regionales de Mesoamérica for their tremendous help and patience. A number of colleagues and scholars read chapters, commented on conference papers, or provided advice or feedback in other ways. I thank Andrew Preston, Cara Burnidge, Mark Edwards, Melani McAlister, Bob Brigham, Virginia Garrard-Burnett, and Randall Balmer. At the University of Virginia, I received helpful feedback and advice on this project at various stages from Sophia Rosenfeld, J.C.A. Stagg, Mark Thomas, Elizabeth Thompson, Jeffrey Rossman, Stephen Schuker, Josh Yates, John Owen, Charles Mathewes, Tony Tian-Ren Lin, Christopher Nichols, Stephen Macekura, Ethan Schrum, James Wilson, Harold Mock, Evan McCormick, Ben Brady, Shannon Nix, Mary Barton, Kelly Winck, Alexandra Evans, Brian Rosenwald, Joseph Scott, Marston Crumpler, Philip Herrington, Cecilia Márquez, Tamika Richeson, Alec Hickmott, Mary Hicks, Cody Perkins, John Terry, Willa Brown, and Chris Cornelius. I also benefited from good cheer and administrative support of Kathleen Miller, Ella Wood, and Jenni Via. Finally, I thank the dear friends and family who supported me through this process. Rachel Rehl, Chris and Doreen Siciliano, Brian and Kelly Hargraves, Michael and Lindsay Burke, Lucy Kwon, Karena Wong, Lauren Hunter, Nicole Gitau, Jeff Coleman, Berenice