The Base Reacts

Terry Neal notes that some supporters of the war in Iraq are voicing concern about the establishment of religion clauses in the Iraqi constitution. The Family Research Council, for one. What they say is

It is not now clear how the provision on human rights and democracy will relate to those making Islam the basis of law. There is also a question over whether a freedom of religion clause will apply to groups or to individuals. Freedom of religious belief and practice is the most fundamental of liberties, and without it, it is doubtful that other democratic freedoms can truly exist.

Two points here: 1. This is President Bush's base in the religious right that is questioning the Iraqi constitution. 2. I am wondering whether the FRC's concern is freedom of religious belief for the Iraqis or their ability to proselytize there.

I have run into them in Tallinn shops. Estonian friends have asked me about religious groups offering schools and representing themselves as being from the US government. I have watched them on flights into and out of Kazakhstan and heading in other directions out of Europe. Fundamentalist Christian missionaries. I haven't posted much on them because I don't know as much as I'd like to and don't know how to find out. I spent a couple of hours on the internet researching that question from Estonian friends, and didn't find out much that was useful, except that the organization was located in Texas and was clearly a conservative Christian group, not connected to the US government as far as I could see.

It's their right to preach their religion. I just wonder what it's doing for the US in the rest of the world.

Comments

[nadezhda]

It's a problem in Indonesia.

[CKR]

Thanks, Nadezhda. I'd like to know what organizations are involved and why they're so secretive. Notice that your article just identified "Christian missionaries" and such.

Some are up front. I've met Presbyterian missionaries who've been in Central Asia and a young terrified Mormon man in Tallinn, at the song festival. It was his first time out of his small town in Utah, and he knew Russian, but not Estonian.

It's those other guys I'm wondering about, the ones who represent themselves as being from the United States government.

[PHK]

Re your last comment about Christian missionaries who represent themselves as being from the USG. That's not, unfortunately, out of the question. A little "after hours work" maybe? A second job - or volunteerism of a sort?