Special Providence_ American Foreign Policy and How It Changed World - Walter Russell Mead

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ingworldwas inherentlydistastefultothefin-de-siecleliberalmind.
Exportingvaluestounenlightenedpartsoftheworld-Africa,Alabama,
China-remainsa central concernofAmericanliberals today, butit
makespeopleuncomfortabletoseethesamedogmaticcertaintiesand
missionaryimpulsesthatwereprevalentamongtheirgrandparentsused
tospreadsuchdifferentvaluesandbeliefs.Atsomepointthecontem-
plationofsuchhistorical disparitiesmightlead onetoquestionthe
comfortable ethical and political certainties ofenlightened opinion
today-andthisisnotanenterprisetoberecommendedtoyoungaca-
demicswithcareerstobuild.
ConservativeChristianscholarswhomightbeexpectedtocelebrate
andthereforestudymissionhistoryalsohaveproblemswiththesubject.
Althoughthedenominationsthatstillmaintainactivemissionarypro-
gramsdo study"missiology,"theirinterestliesintrainingfuturemis-
sionariesanddevelopingmoresuccessfulwaystopreachtheGospel.Real
missionhistoryposesproblemsforevangelicalsandotherconservative
Christians.Themodernecumenicalmovement,likemanyofthepio-
neeringfiguresofliberaltheology,emergedfromthemissionaryworld.
A dispassionatestudyoftheAmericanmissionaryrecordwouldprobably
concludethatthemulticulturalandrelativisticthinkingsocharacteris-
ticoftheUnitedStatestodayowesmuchofitssocialpowertotheunex-
pectedconsequencesofAmericanmissionsabroad.
Ifa fullaccountoftheAmericanmissionarymovementisbeyondus
here,evena quicksketchwillsufficetoindicateitscentralimportancein
thedevelopmentofAmericanforeignpolicyandofthe'subculturesthat
shapeand sustainit.Afterthefamous 1806 HaystackPrayerMeeting
outsideWilliamsCollege,inwhichagroupofsrudentsvowedtodedi-
catetheirlivestoforeign missions,a smalltrickle-soontobecomea
mightyflood-ofmissionarieslefttheUnitedStatesforserviceabroad.
AdoniramJudsonandhiswifestoppedbrieflyinIndiabeforereaching
Burma(nowMyanmar).By 1819,Mrs.Judsonfound that,whilethe
womenofBurmashoweddistressinglylittleinterestintheGospelof
Christ,theywereextremelyeagertolearntoreadandtosew,andthat
boththeyandtheirmenfolkweredesperateforinformationaboutthe
widerworld.^2
As the extraordinaryreligious revivals knownas theSecond and
ThirdGreatAwakeningsoftheearlynineteenthcenturydeepenedthe
elementofreligiousfervorinAmericanculture,thenumberofyoung
peopleseekingcareersinforeignmissionsgrewrapidly.Butsinceevery