IGE: Your Global Neighborhood Weather Station

By Dr. Chris Seiple on 27 February 2009

I recently had the privilege of speaking at the Naval War College on "NGOs, Religious Freedom & National Security." Afterwards a Marine Lieutenant Colonel with three tours in Iraq said this: "Not dealing directly with the issue of religion would be like ignoring the role the weather plays on combat operations because we are not 'comfortable' discussing it."

It's a compelling comparison. It is beyond self-evident that anyone planning a military operation would consider the weather. The weather literally conditions one's view of the world, not to mention how you prepare to engage it.

Issues of religion and religious freedom are critically important factors in determining the social and political "weather" in any context; yet this reality is not always so obvious to those whose view of the world, consciously or sub-consciously, protects them from the religious elements that threaten their comfortable, climate-controlled, cocoons.

Now I'm a tad biased, as I have spent the last eight years experiencing, and writing about, the religious "weather" systems that are inseparable from the geo-political landscape.¹ But it is my increasing belief that decision-makers—at governmental agencies and non-governmental organizations throughout the western world—are ready to listen to the frontline practitioners. In fact, I've concluded that our work at the Institute for Global Engagement (IGE) is more important than ever before.

Why?

IGE is a Christian think-tank-with-legs that promotes sustainable environments for religious freedom worldwide through relational diplomacy. Allow me to briefly unpack each of the key components of this description: "Christian," "think-tank-with-legs," "promoting sustainable environments," "religious freedom", and "relational diplomacy."

IGE is Christian. We take the God of history, and His Son, seriously. We put Christ at the center of all we do.² Christ is our center as we seek to love God and our neighbor, striving to know our own faith at its richest and deepest best, and enough about our neighbor's to respect it.³ In short, we believe that religious freedom is consistent with what Christ taught and that we honor Him in doing so.

Put differently, while we are a legally registered 501(c)3 non-profit that is non-partisan and non-proselytizing, we are not a faith-based organization. We are a faith-integrated organization, understanding and engaging different worldviews in order to show respect foremost, and, as relationships emerge, work together to promote religious freedom. Being Christian doesn't somehow automatically guarantee greater insight into our own or other faiths, but it does mean that we are positioned to relate better to those religious weather systems outside of the climate-controlled cocoons that many in the West choose to live in.

IGE is a "think-tank-with-legs." In our efforts to promote sustainable environments for religious freedom worldwide, it is imperative to operate at the intersection of thoughts and deeds. Words without action are worthless; action without thought is dangerous. Each must hone the other. We think comprehensively and then we act holistically.

We think first. We study the impact of faith on state and society worldwide through our Center on Faith & International Affairs. If the weather of religion permeates all facets of a culture and country, then it is absolutely imperative to understand the role/influence of religion on the state (top-down) and the society (bottom-up) if one wants to understand how best to promote religious freedom. We publish The Review of Faith & International Affairs, the journal of record in this emerging field.

This kind of practical scholarship, in turn, forms the basis for equipping leaders to engage a world permeated by the weather of religion—something our Center for Global Education facilitates. Our annual Global Leadership Forum tackles the most pressing issues of our day. (This year's forum examines the relationship between Evangelicals and Muslims). Our Schools for Global Engagement partner with organizations in tailoring a training package that meets their needs; for example, see the course reader and presentations developed for last year's Wycliffe School for Global Engagement. Finally, our Master of Science in Global Engagement, currently in development in partnership with Baylor University, will provide an in-depth discussion of these critical issues.

Then we act. While the above kind of thinking is useful to anyone serving in global affairs, we use it to promote religious freedom through our Center for Relational Diplomacy. We work creatively and contextually with governments to encourage religious freedom, and we equip their citizens to exercise that freedom responsibly.

IGE promotes sustainable environments. A sustainable environment requires a comprehensive approach to the issue at hand. That approach must simultaneously understand the issue itself while seeking to understand that issue in its interrelated context to other issues. We define "promoting" as understanding both the issue and its environment; and as being equipped to engage both.

Further, we believe that promoting something is a waste of time if it is not sustainable. In any foreign context, a sustainable solution will be one developed in partnership with the people who actually live there, not a pre-packed formula imposed from the outside. By listening to and understanding local partners, it becomes possible to fashion practical solutions that are culturally owned and legally protected. It takes a long time, as is common with the relationships that we each cherish.

IGE promotes religious freedom. We think about religious freedom at two levels. First, there is its basic definition, recognized in all international covenants and most constitutions worldwide. Religious freedom is the opportunity to choose or not choose faith freely, and to share and change one's faith.

As Christians, however, we think about religious freedom in the context of loving God and loving our neighbor. We believe that we become more fully human the more we love God and the more we love our neighbor. In fact, we cannot love God without loving our neighbor; we cannot understand our own identity unless it is rooted in both God and in our neighbor's identity.

If my neighbor—irrespective of what s/he believes—is created in the image of God just like me, then I need to find a way to respect and love my neighbor as I would myself. Finding the language, logic, and actions that speak to that neighbor can be difficult, but we cannot shirk from the task. Thus, we believe that true religious freedom is rooted in respect and reconciliation with our neighbor.

When you get right down to it, a sustainable state and society are based on this permeating value. If we don't have the time to respect our neighbor and to understand and work across our deepest differences, then intolerance, hate, and even violence are not far behind. When people can work across deep differences—because they respect each other—then the society will be civil and the state strong, enabling prosperity and security.⁴

IGE promotes religious freedom through relational diplomacy. Relational diplomacy is inspired by Jesus when he engages a Samaritan woman from a different ethnic group that believed something different theologically (please see John 4:4-42). Simply, Jesus makes her the point of reference, loving her in a language and logic that she understood. In doing so, Jesus was not afraid to violate the social and cultural norms of the day both as a male (showing respect for a woman in a patriarchal society) and as a Jew (for Jews did not associate with Samaritans).

IGE's relational diplomacy—as practiced by each of its three centers—has three primary characteristics. First, relational diplomacy transparently engages the state and society, working simultaneously from the top-down and the bottom-up.

Relational diplomacy also engages government and non-government officials at the national and local level, using common values and interests to build bridges of understanding across deep differences. We call this "track 1.5" diplomacy as we work in the space between traditional diplomacy (track 1) and non-traditional, people-to-people diplomacy (track 2). We firmly believe that the defining trait of the 21^st century will be the intersection of the public and private spheres pursuant solutions to the complex challenges our world faces.

Relational diplomacy yields roadmap agreements that promote religious freedom in a contextual manner. These agreements always result from a consensus with our local partners at the national and provincial levels. They also demonstrate a comprehensive and tangible strategy with clear steps that demand practical implementation. Finally, and most importantly, these agreements enable a public transparency whereby all parties can hold each other accountable even as all parties celebrate together the implementation of each step of the agreement.⁵

The Institute for Global Engagement is a Christian "think-tank-with-legs" that promotes sustainable environments for religious freedom through relational diplomacy.

Think of us as your global neighborhood "religious weather station," helping governments and global citizens alike to understand and serve a world desperately in need of mutual, respect-based engagement. Through scholarship, education, and relational diplomacy, we promote respect, reconciliation, and, thus, true religious freedom.

Last updated 02 April 2009