| This thesis argues for the notion of belief as the dominant discourse of religion in the U.S. To analyze just how pervasive this idea of religion has become, I analyze the history of religion being defined as belief, tracing a historical narrative from post-Reformation England to the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom. Beginning with such early political philosophers as John Locke, Baruch Spinoza, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, who laid the foundation for the conception of religion as a private, interior notion that is then secondarily expressed. From there I demonstrate the prevalence of this discourse in recent scholarship within religious studies and U.S. legal decisions. After establishing historical precedent through my analysis for the prevalence of this discourse, I argue that this rhetoric of belief has become so naturalized in U.S. conceptions of religion that it is now being implemented and standardized internationally. To examine the impact of this conception globally, I draw on the Annual Reports of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom so to demonstrate the practical effects of this course both within the U.S. and globally. |
