The time after World War II is divided into four periods. Primary sources include the minutes and records of denominational bodies such as the General Conference, the general boards and agencies, the statements of the Council of Bishops and other church-related organizations. This is a book about how a major Protestant denomination, the United Methodist Church, has reacted to a particular public policy, in this case United States foreign policy. It is also a study about how a denomination determines what its official stance will be. It is therefore a book about conflict.
Christian people are loyal to their church and what it represents.
They are also members of a larger society and loyal citizens of their country. For approximately half a century there has existed within Methodism a small but influential group of persons whose assumption about American society has been different from that of the great majority of ministers and laity. The result has been a conflict of loyalties which continues but is not always understood. I hope this book will help United Methodist people understand and deal with this conflict, since how it is resolved will, to a significant degree, determine the role that the United Methodist Church will play in society and even determine the future of the denomination itself.