c. 2007 Religion News Service

(UNDATED) As under secretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs, Karen Hughes leads efforts to promote American values and combat ideological support for terrorism around the world.

Her portfolio includes cultural programs, public affairs and international information. Hughes, a transplanted Texan who came to Washington with President George W. Bush, formerly managed the White House press and speechwriting offices.

She talked about her new role _ what she calls “waging peace” _ and how religion can be used to help sell the U.S. image abroad. Following are excerpts:

Q: What does your mission with the State Department entail?

A: I view my job as “waging peace,” reaching out to the world in a spirit of respect and partnership.

We’ve found one of the most effective ways to interact with people is through exchange programs. And because of the presence of religion in the ideological struggle against terrorism, we sponsor exchanges of clerics.

We brought clerics from Saudi Arabia and Jordan to America, and got reports that after their visits, their sermons, which had been very negative, became more positive in regard to America and Americans.

There’s also “diplomacy of deeds” _ things we do as government and private American citizens to help people around the world have better lives. Some Americans are motivated by faith to travel to help make a positive difference. Others go just because they care.

Q: How important is religion in your mission?

A: Religion is especially important as we confront ideological support for terrorism. We have to recognize we are up against a group of violent extremists who pervert religion to justify their acts of mass murder.

When I took this job, President Bush encouraged me to encourage interfaith dialogue, because all major world faiths teach that life is precious and taking innocent life is wrong. Yet, around the world every day, extremists are taking the lives of innocents. Unfortunately there seems to be no safe or sacred place.

It is very important that responsible people of all faiths _ Muslim, Christian, Jewish, Hindu _ come together to speak out, to condemn those actions and not allow the extremists to use religion to justify murder.

Q: Is religion’s diplomatic role something new since 9/11?

A: We have always emphasized the importance of religious freedom. It’s a founding principle of our democracy. Religious freedom is one of the core values we address, as we encourage other countries to allow their citizens to worship as their conscience dictates.

I do worry sometimes when I hear many people in other countries mistake America’s freedom of religion to be freedom from religion, and falsely believe Americans are not religious. One of the things that people who come to America in the exchange prgrams mention to me is how they are struck by how many Americans (regularly go) to worship. And I am always surprised that they are surprised.

When you take a survey of what’s important to (people around the world), most say family and faith. (Non-Americans) seem to believe money and power or work holds the most importance to Americans.

As we are trying to reach out to people across the world, we are careful not to promote any one faith, but to teach respect for the right of all people to worship freely, and teach that our differences are something to celebrate, not a license to kill each other.

Q: What are the most critical issues of misunderstanding between countries and religious factions regarding religion?

A: A lot of the world sees America through the culture we export _ music, television, films. These don’t always lead toward a comprehensive impression that other people like. Citizens of other countries do not understand how free Americans are to worship, to express their religious beliefs or not.

Q: What is the most critical issue affecting terrorism?

A: The mistaken impression that our opponents are actively trying to foster, that the West is in conflict with Islam, when actually, Islam is a large and growing faith in America.

As a government official, I represent 6 to 7 million American Muslims, who live and worship freely in America. The other day, a woman came up and asked me if Americans think that those in the Muslim world are all terrorists. I said, “Of course we don’t think that. A great number of Americans are Muslims.”

One of my jobs is to constantly point out that we are at war against terror, against a relatively small number of violent extremists who pervert religion, and not against any faith or genuine religious belief.

Q: What have been the signature advances and most critical challenges that you see?

A: One of the best programs that we have put in place is called Citizen Dialogues, in which we recognize that our Muslim American citizens themselves are often the best bridge to Muslim communities across the world.

We have a great deal of work to do and we face a lot of misunderstanding around the world. One of our biggest challenges is getting more concerned citizens in all parts of the world to speak out and make clear that extremists pervert religion when they bomb hospitals, universities, wedding parties, mosques, even groups of children. The time has come when people of all faiths must join together to make these acts of terror unacceptable.

The movie “Amazing Grace” tells how William Wilberforce helped lead a grassroots campaign against slavery. Ultimately, slavery went from being an international norm to an international pariah. We need to do the same thing for suicide bombings.

Q: What can people of faith in America do to make a difference?

A: Host an exchange student! After people visit America, in interviews we hear the proof that that experience forever changes and improves perspective and understanding of America.

Editors: To obtain a photo of Karen Hughes, go to the RNS Web site at https://religionnews.com. On the lower right, click on “photos,” then search by subject or slug.

KRE/RB END DAVIS-SEALE