Andrew Preston - Sword of the Spirit, Shield of Faith: Religion in American War and Diplomacy

THIS IS A BORZOI BOOK
PUBLISHED BY ALFRED A. KNOPF

Copyright 2012 by Andrew Preston
All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House, Inc., New York,
and in Canada by Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto.
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registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Preston, Andrew, 1973
Sword of the spirit, shield of faith : religion in American war and diplomacy /
by Andrew Preston.1st ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-4000-4323-1
1. United StatesForeign relations. 2. United StatesForeign relations
Religious aspects. 3. Religion and international relationsUnited StatesHistory. 4. United StatesMilitary policyReligious aspects. 5. United States
History, MilitaryReligious aspects. I. Title.
E 183.7. P 74 2012
322.10973dc23 2011035138

www.randomhouse.ca
Knopf Canada and colophon are registered trademarks.
Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
Preston, Andrew, 1973
Sword of the spirit, shield of faith : religion in American war and diplomacy / Andrew Preston
Includes bibliographical references.
Issued also in electronic format.
eISBN: 978-0-307-95760-3
1.Religion and international relationsUnited StatesHistory. 2.Religion and politicsUnited StatesHistory. 3.United StatesForeign relationsReligious aspects. I.Title.
BL 65. I 55 P 74 2012 201.727 C 2011-904068-9

Cover design and calligraphy by Mary Jane Callister

v3.1

To my parents, Harry and Mary,

who have given me so much

New Haven, Connecticut, March 2003. Along with the rest of the world, the student body at Saddam Hussein. War would start any day nowthat much was certain. Whatever ones opinion on the war, supporters and opponents alike, at Yale as elsewhere, had over a year and a vast amount of information to argue their case. Through the summer and fall of 2002 and into the new year, the Bush administration and its supporters made several arguments for war, from national security to democracy promotion and much else in between.

Including faith. From his initial response to the

For his part, Saddam Hussein also framed the coming war in religious terms. Unlike the decadent, infidel Americans, Iraqis belonged to a glorious

I was then a young lecturer in the History Department at Yale, not far removed from finishing a doctoral dissertation on George W. Bush, seemingly as strong a president in living memory, deciding to remake the Middle East in a democratic American image. For a specialist in U.S. diplomatic history, it was a fascinating time.

My students and I debated the

I cannot say precisely when, but at some point that spring I did begin to give religion some further thought. Intrigued, I consulted bibliographic guides, library catalogues, and journal databases. To my surprise, the existing literature did not much go beyond the usual suspects I had already mentioned to my students. There were, however, some notable exceptions just then emerging. Three colleagues,

I was also familiar with American religious history, and so turned there next. But when I consulted that body of literature, I discovered something very interesting: religious historians examined diplomacy just as infrequently and unsystematically as diplomatic historians examined religion. Yet their work was littered with intriguing discussions of religion in times of war and diplomatic crisis, albeit with a focus on how foreign policy affected religion rather than the other way around. And unlike diplomatic historians, historians of religion did not simply concentrate on the usual suspects.

This was an exciting but odd and unsettling discovery. It is difficult to think of two subjects that have shaped the United States more than religion and foreign affairs, and it is difficult to find two bodies of literature that are as large, diverse, or controversial; perhaps, as categories of historical analysis, only race and economics compare. The problem, at least for me, was that historians of religion were interested in religious issues; their discussions of, say, World War I did not intend to shed light on the war, but on how religion reacted to or was changed by the war. In the same way, historians of American foreign policy were not especially interested in religious issues. Sporadic references to the other abounded in each discipline, but only a rare few scholars integrated them in a sustained and meaningful fashion. Yet there were obvious historical moments when the two subjects would have had to meet in interesting and revealing ways. Armed with this insight, I set out to write a book that would answer my students questionsand my own.

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.

Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;

And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;

Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God

Ephesians 6:1017

SWORD OF THE S PIRIT,Shield of Faith was written under the assumption that religion played an important role in shaping American perceptions of the world and in contributing to domestic debates on how the United States should engage with other nations. It is an exploration not of whether religion influenced U.S. foreign relations, but how. It is a logical assumption: few would argue that religion has not played a consistently important role in American life, for better or worse.

This last qualifierfor better or worseis important, for this book also operates under the assumption that religion is just like any other historical topic. It is not my desire, and certainly not my intention, to make a case either for or against a role for religion in public life. Readers will of course use the material in this book to support their own beliefs that religion is either a productive or a pernicious force in American foreign relations. Partisans on both sides of the acrimonious debate over religions place in the public squareand increasingly over the nature of religion itselfwill find plenty of evidence to back up their competing claims. But such quarrels are not my concern. Religion provokes intense emotions, and no historian is free of bias. Nonetheless, I have sought to treat my subject as objectively as possible.

Doing so has meant recognizing that there was not one religious influence upon American foreign relations, but many: nationalist but also internationalist, exceptionalist but also cosmopolitan, nativist but also tolerant, militant but also pacifist. The religious influence was neither monolithic nor consensual but a product of intense dialogue, debate, and controversy. Nor did it always push U.S. foreign policy in the same direction. It is a fascinatingly complex story, but its very complexity makes its unraveling all the more important and worthwhile.