American Internationalism, Religious Freedom, and the Sexual Revolution
by Rick Plasterer, Juicy Ecumenism:
America has long been committed to an ideal of religious freedom. The Wilsonian internationalism of the early twentieth century, which really has informed American foreign policy since World War II has committed America to advancing Wilsonian ideals globally. The International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 specifically included religious freedom among American ideals to be advanced, and also established the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom to monitor religious freedom in each country of the world and make policy recommendations to the U.S. government.
There was controversy when the IFRA was enacted in 1998. It was opposed by the National Council of Churches and other liberal voices as one-sidedly Christian. But the obligations and activism resulting from the IRFA are now generally understood to aim at religious freedom for believers of all religions. There nevertheless has continued to be reluctance to reauthorize the USCIRF. The Commission thus remains restrained, requiring reauthorization every two years from Congress. USCIRF clearly pursues religious freedom for all religious groups, and the State Department’s annual report on religious freedom in compliance with IRFA addresses religious freedom for all groups and monitors all countries.
A Dissonance of Ideals
But with the cultural revolution of the last 50 years, it has become difficult to express and advance American ideals either at home or abroad in a way that commands a consensus across the American spectrum. An influential part of the population demands that moral autonomy be an American ideal. This means most importantly to its advocates that license for any kind of consensual sexual activity or abortion that may be wanted be included among the ideals which the American government should express and advance.
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