Land Urges Religious Concerns Be Part of Foreign Policy

Richard Land, a commissioner of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, spoke at a conference on religious tolerance held at Rice University on Sept. 21. The Baptist Press yesterday reported on his interesting remarks:

Future [American] leaders must take religion seriously. Otherwise, foreign policies will fall short. Our leaders must factor religion into domestic and foreign policies [if America hopes to continue to have an impact on peace and freedom around the world.]... If the 20th century was a century of ideology, the 21st century is shaping up to be a century of religion. The more we ignore the reality of how religion plays a role in conflicts, the more problems we will have....

Land is also president of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission.