With the dawning of the 21st Century a new human rights movement burst unexpectedly onto the global stage. Initially motivated by concern for persecuted Christians around the world, unlikely alliances emerged, and the movement grew to encompass a broader quest for human rights. Now, American evangelicals provide grassroots muscle for causes joined by a wide array of activists—from Jews to Catholics, feminists to Pentecostals, African American leaders to Tibetan Buddhists—in the most important human rights movement since the end of the Cold War. Given unprecedented insider access, author Allen D. Hertzke charts the rise of this faith-based movement for global human rights and tells the compelling story of the personalities and forces, clashes and compromises, strategies and protests that shape it. In doing so, Hertzke shows that by bringing attention to issues like religious persecution, Sudanese atrocities, North Korean gulags, and sex trafficking, the movement is shaping American foreign policy and international relations in ways unimaginable a decade ago.
An internationally recognized expert on religion and politics, Allen D. Hertzke is professor of political science and director of religious studies at the University of Oklahoma. A frequent news commentator, Hertzke has been featured in such outlets as The New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, Weekly Standard, BBC World Service, PBS, and National Public Radio. Dr. Hertzke has lectured at the National Press Club, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, the Council on Foreign Relations, the Carnegie Council on Ethics and International Affairs, and before numerous audiences in China.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1 Herod's Challenge Chapter 2 Their Blood Cries Out Chapter 3 The Barriers of Babel Chapter 4 Prepare Ye the Way Chapter 5 He Sent a Jew Chapter 6 The Hand of Providence in Congress Chapter 7 Gentle as Doves, Cunning as Serpents in the Sudan Battle Chapter 8 Go Forth
What People are Saying About This
Philip Jenkins
In this eloquent and thoughtful book, Allen Hertzke offers an enlightening survey of the new politics of human rights, and shows how religious activism has been translated into practical politics. This is a noteworthy study of how social movements work.
A.M. Rosenthal
Whether you are a Christian or of almost any other religion, I think you will finish the book determined to do more to ease the suffering and murder of persecuted Christians.
Luis Lugo
How did American evanglicals and Jews join together to become one of the most powerful human rights lobbies? Hertzke combines solid research, perceptive analysis and eloquent prose to provide a definitive answer. For anyone wishing to understand how religion is reshaping the U.S. foreign policy agenda—often in surprising ways—this book is a must read.
Mark Palmer
...groundbreaking...
Steven D. Wales
This book is one-of-a-kind, the sine qua non on the subject. Without it, the uninitiated cannot fully comprehend current human rights struggles. Freeing God's Children is a systematic chronicle of a profound and effective movement. This book is as deep as Washington politics get, and as broad as any spy thriller, taking the reader to Burma, Israel, Australia, Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iran, Pakistan, Tiananmen Square, and dozens of other far-flung locales, along with one extraordinary stop in Midland, Texas. Hertzke's book is an attempt to sing an epic song. Hertzke sings it well.
Charles Colson
Well researched, well written, this is a must read for those who want to understand what an American president is doing jawboning the UN on sexual trafficking.
