고려대학교

초록/요약

The Bush administration has consistently framed its foreign policy in religious language, following the September 11 attack. It is understood that in practical terms, the separation of politics and religion is not categorically applied in the U.S. In that context, we examine how American religion has related to neoconservative foreign policy attitudes. Separation between church and state does not mean that religious views should be excluded from politics. The idea that public policies should not be influenced by religious beliefs is misguided. American foreign policy has encompassed religious discourse, including evangelical doctrine in order to make it more justifiable at home as well abroad, Critics argue that the American Christian Right was much more likely to influence American engagement in its foreign policy. However, engaging the Christian Right in broader foreign policy discussions needs to be seriously reexamined. On the assumption that the September 11 terror was considered sort of religious war against the American exceptionalism, the U.S. response to the terrorist attack tended to address more religious rhetoric and discourse. Inevitably or transiently, neoconservatism was overly mixed up with religious language, thus leading to the distortion that evangelicals, especially the Christian Right played a critical part in making American neoconservative policies. Christian evangelicals in the US are a very diverse group themselves rather than a monolithic organization. The relationship between Christian evangelicals and the support for neoconservative foreign policy is less likely to be evident.