A study of the relationship between American evangelicals and human rights

Human rights violations and abuses affect every region of the globe. The most recent Amnesty International Annual Report details violations in 149 countries. While there are no simple solutions to a problem of this magnitude and complexity, the support of powerful social groups can help in providing relief to the victims, pressure on abusive governments, legal consequences for abusers, and other resources in combating the violence that seems to chronically plague over our world. One of the most powerful groups, with tremendous social capital, is American evangelicals. Evangelicalism, even given the loose and informal organizational structures, is one of the few groups that has the global economic, demographic, political, social and moral capital to make a significant difference in the human rights scene. Yet the last 100 years have seen a widening disconnect between American evangelicals and formal human rights concepts and practice; these powerful American evangelicals have little presence or participation in the human rights movement. At best American evangelicals are oblivious to human rights; at worst, suspicious, even hostile.; This study seeks to gain deeper understanding about the factors that contribute to this estrangement, or the disconnect. The problem of the disconnect naturally leads to consideration of whether what has been disconnected can be reconnected. Phenomenological interviews were used to gain understanding about the disconnect by clarifying what it means to "do" human rights by documenting the stories, personal commitments and professional activists of selected human rights professionals. Data was gathered from seven human rights professionals who participated in in-depth face-to-face interviews. The data from human rights respondents was compared and contrasted with the literature on American evangelicals to highlight factors in the disconnect and points of conceptual and practical overlap which could lead to a reconnect.; The disconnect between American evangelicals and human rights is set in the larger sociological context of modernity, considering both its positive contributions in terms of human rights and freedom movements as well as contemporary Evangelical culture, as well as the fragmenting, alienating, disconnecting affects of modernity on individuals, communities and society. After reviewing the sociological analyses of modernity, the study provides an historical overview of American evangelicalism and human rights concepts and issues. The data is analyzed from a phenomenological perspective to gain understanding about the practice, key characteristics, formative experiences and worldviews of human rights professionals as compared with general characteristics and commitments of American evangelicals. From this analysis, factors which have contributed to the disconnect and suggestions for reconnecting American evangelicals and human rights emerged. Finally, the ethical perspective allows reflection on how American evangelicals should respond to human rights in a modern society.