Study: US foreign policy is too secular

[OnePimpTiger]

'God gap' impedes U.S. foreign policy, task force says

American foreign policy is handicapped by a narrow, ill-informed and "uncompromising Western secularism" that feeds religious extremism, threatens traditional cultures and fails to encourage religious groups that promote peace and human rights, according to a two-year study by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs...

...American foreign policy's "God gap" has been noted in recent years by others, including former secretary of state Madeleine K. Albright.

"It's a hot topic," said Chris Seiple, president of the Institute for Global Engagement in Arlington County and a Council on Foreign Relations member. "It's the elephant in the room. You're taught not to talk about religion and politics, but the bummer is that it's at the nexus of national security. The truth is the academy has been run by secular fundamentalists for a long time, people who believe religion is not a legitimate component of realpolitik"...

..."Despite a world abuzz with religious fervor," the task force says, "the U.S. government has been slow to respond effectively to situations where religion plays a global role." Those include the growing influence of Pentecostalism in Latin America, evangelical Christianity in Africa and religious minorities in the Far East.

Hmmm...interesting. I'd never thought about this.

[Alarion]

Religion has NO place in politics. I will never sway from that opinion.

[OnePimpTiger]

They're not saying the American government should be based on religious beliefs, but that ignoring the influence of religion on governments, especially foreign governments (ie Middle East), is an ignorant way to do things.