Faith in Action: Exploring The Intersections of Religious Advocacy and Foreign Policy with Rebecca Linder Blachly

In this episode, Andrew is joined by Rebecca Linder Blachly, director of the Office of Government Relations for the Episcopal Church, to talk about the role of faith advocacy in shaping American foreign policy decisions. An anonymous colleague of Kissinger remarked in late November that instead of dehumanization, "Imagine a chessboard in which each piece was actually a king or queen, or the pawns were children, and every time you sacrificed a pawn, a child was killed. You might play chess differently." Rebecca is one of those in the Beltway who aims to humanize the international relations chessboard and shape the conversation around morality in the field. The mission of the Office of Government Relations (OGR)  is to “represent the policy priorities of The Episcopal Church to the U.S. government in Washington, D.C. and help shape the discussion of political issues throughout the Church. It aims to influence policy and legislation on critical issues, highlighting the voices and experiences of Episcopalians and Anglicans globally.” Andrew and Rebecca discuss her prior role as a senior policy advisor for Africa in the U.S. Department of State's Office of Religion and Global Affairs, what day-to-day faith advocacy looks like in Washington, what some of the current policy objectives are for the Episcopal Church, and how interfaith networks support grassroots understandings of national security issues.