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Faith and War: How Christians Debated the Cold and Vietnam Wars
Throughout American history, Christianity has shaped public opinion, guided leaders in their decision making, and stood at the center of countless issues. To gain complete knowledge of an era, historians must investigate the religious context of what transpired, why it happened, and how. Yet too little is known about American Christianity’s foreign policy opinions during the Cold and Vietnam Wars. To gain a deeper understanding of this period (1964-75), David E. Settje explores the diversity of American Christian responses to the Cold and Vietnam Wars to determine how Americans engaged in debates about foreign policy based on their theological convictions.
Settje uncovers how specific Christian theologies and histories influenced American religious responses to international affairs, which varied considerably. Scrutinizing such sources as the evangelical Christianity Today, the mainline Protestant ,Christian Century, a sampling of Catholic periodicals, the African Methodist Episcopal Church, the Southern Baptist Convention, and the United Church of Christ, Faith and War explores these entities' commingling of religion, politics, and foreign policy, illuminating the roles that Christianity attempted to play in both reflecting and shaping American foreign policy opinions during a decade in which global matters affected Americans daily and profoundly.
Settje uncovers how specific Christian theologies and histories influenced American religious responses to international affairs, which varied considerably. Scrutinizing such sources as the evangelical Christianity Today, the mainline Protestant ,Christian Century, a sampling of Catholic periodicals, the African Methodist Episcopal Church, the Southern Baptist Convention, and the United Church of Christ, Faith and War explores these entities' commingling of religion, politics, and foreign policy, illuminating the roles that Christianity attempted to play in both reflecting and shaping American foreign policy opinions during a decade in which global matters affected Americans daily and profoundly.
244 pages, Hardcover
First published June 13, 2011
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
September 3, 2019
David Settje weighs in on the hot topic of religion and foreign policy, which is now a cutting edge field in religious and diplomatic history (see William Inboden Religion and American Foreign Policy, 1945-1960: The Soul of Containment or Angela Lahr Millennial Dreams and Apocalyptic Nightmares: The Cold War Origins of Political Evangelicalism for other recent entries). Rather than give us a narrow study, Settje surveys Christian periodicals across the political spectrum. The approach is very balanced and provides equal face time for each of the six subjects listed above in the description. Settje then looks at opinions on the Cold War, Vietnam War, and Nixon from 1964-75.
The book competently traces periodical positions and shows, per Settje’s argument, that Christians expressed many of the same views other American groups did. The twist is in their reasoning, which was often rooted in theological convictions. Such convictions led some Christians (notably the United Church of Christ) to oppose the Vietnam War in 1964, before public opinion turned sour. But as the Vietnam War became a widely-recognized quagmire, or as Cold War assumptions became too shaky to defend, moderate and liberal magazines changed their politics but stuck to core theological positions. Conservative evangelicals maintained support for Nixon and Vietnam to the bitter end for similarly theological reasons: they were concerned above all for missionary access and were deferential to political leaders. This main argument is supplemented with numerous smaller ones about the trajectories of each periodical.
The book has a good and extensive bibliography, though the writing is rigidly academic – there are no moving or ponderous passages here. The survey format also lends itself to some dry repetition when multiple periodicals have essentially the same view on an issue.
The most promising concept I pulled out was a phrase Settje used more than once: the “culture war of foreign policy.” We all know about the flashy culture war battle zones like abortion, gay marriage, and feminism. Can we talk about that same conflict in foreign policy? Settje confines himself to periodicals, so he cannot answer the question beyond that limited sphere. I suspect that as historians build off of the work Settje and others have done, we will be able to answer the question more fully.
The book competently traces periodical positions and shows, per Settje’s argument, that Christians expressed many of the same views other American groups did. The twist is in their reasoning, which was often rooted in theological convictions. Such convictions led some Christians (notably the United Church of Christ) to oppose the Vietnam War in 1964, before public opinion turned sour. But as the Vietnam War became a widely-recognized quagmire, or as Cold War assumptions became too shaky to defend, moderate and liberal magazines changed their politics but stuck to core theological positions. Conservative evangelicals maintained support for Nixon and Vietnam to the bitter end for similarly theological reasons: they were concerned above all for missionary access and were deferential to political leaders. This main argument is supplemented with numerous smaller ones about the trajectories of each periodical.
The book has a good and extensive bibliography, though the writing is rigidly academic – there are no moving or ponderous passages here. The survey format also lends itself to some dry repetition when multiple periodicals have essentially the same view on an issue.
The most promising concept I pulled out was a phrase Settje used more than once: the “culture war of foreign policy.” We all know about the flashy culture war battle zones like abortion, gay marriage, and feminism. Can we talk about that same conflict in foreign policy? Settje confines himself to periodicals, so he cannot answer the question beyond that limited sphere. I suspect that as historians build off of the work Settje and others have done, we will be able to answer the question more fully.
April 15, 2013
A detailed look at how various Christian communities debated the Cold War and the Vietnam War, in particular moments (1964-1968 and under Nixon), in their internal publications. Settje is a careful reader and documentor of nuance and shifting ideas. The book isn't riveting, but it is an invaluable resource for anyone looking to understand more about the wide range of religious responses--conservative, liberal, protestant, catholic, etc.--to Cold War foreign policy and the Vietnam War.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews