Religious freedom and U.S. policy: An interview with Robert Seiple

Robert A. Seiple has been named by President Clinton to be ambassador at large for religious freedom, a position created by the International Religious Freedom Act, which passed Congress in October 1998. His appointment was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in March, and well before that Seiple was at work setting up the office on international religious freedom at the State Department.

Before joining the State Department, Seiple was for 11 years the president of World Vision, Inc., a privately funded relief and development agency. Seiple, who served in Vietnam with the Marine Corps, has also been president of Eastern College and Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary. We spoke with him about his new post and how the U.S. can address issues of religious liberty around the world.

Tell us about your role as defined by the International Religious Freedom Act.

Implementing the act is partly my responsibility. The goal is to promote religious freedom, to promote reconciliation where conflicts have occurred along religious lines, and to make sure that these issues are woven into the foreign policy of the U.S.