Well, perhaps you have, but I hadn't. I was intrigued to read about Douglas Johnston and his work in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province, among other places. A Christianity Today article says,
Johnston, a globetrotting 69-year-old, founded the International Center
for Religion and Diplomacy (ICRD) eight years ago because he saw
religious faith as a catalyst for peacemaking, instead of a basis for
conflict. Johnston, an evangelical who attends the prominent Falls
Church in Virginia, has learned that Muslims will listen more closely
to a Christian than to the typical secular Westerner. Johnston doesn't
evangelize, but his center's Christian motivation and framework are
clear. "If you can operate on a faith-based basis, you find that,
particularly with Muslims, they really open up," says Johnston. "This
is what they like to think they're about. They get very uncomfortable
dealing with just secular constructs."
According to the article,
ICRD is working with madrassah leaders in the North West Frontier
Province to reform these training centers of Islamic militancy. By
appealing to the schools' centuries-long tradition of education and
scholarship, Johnston hopes to add mathematics, science, and literature
to their curricula. And he hopes to inspire critical thinking.
Keep reading...
ICRD has also been very active in the Sudan and elsewhere. This entire article is eye-opening. I wish I had more time and space to do it justice. But this paragraph, noting a pivotal book, should be mentioned:
I have often wondered to what extent the U.S. State Department incorporates an in-depth and sympathetic understanding of religion in its diplomatic efforts in the world today. Apparently not very much, so this book is all the more important in offering needed perspective. In looking up that book on Amazon, I also discovered that Johnston has written another book as well, Faith-Based Diplomacy Trumping Realpolitic (Oxford University Press, 2003).
A reader of the book comments:
I found two core concepts especially relevant to national security: the first is that we need an Office of Religious and Cultural Intelligence within the Central Intelligence Agency, and we need, as the authors suggest, to put religious attaches into every Embassy. The second, and this is a truly core concept, is "The price of freedom is cultural engagement--taking the time to learn how others view the world, to understand what is important to them, and to determine what can realistically be done to help them realize their legitimate aspirations."
Again, I urge a reading of the Christianity Today article for an excellent introduction to ICRD.