Archive
The Complex Relationship Between Religion and Humanitarianism
The hero image of religious saints involved in humanitarian work warrants examination. I have come to this conclusion in the process of leading a global project on “spiritual exemplars” at USC’s Center …
Spiritual Exemplars: The Pragmatism and Mystical Perspective of William James
William James was the inspiration for our project on “spiritual exemplars” at the USC Center for Religion and Civic Culture. James, a philosopher and psychologist, believed that one learns more from what …
The Moral Power of Stories: How Exemplars Help Us Find Meaning and Purpose
What has more emotional salience, an abstract moral principle such as love or justice or a good story of someone whose life commitments exemplify these values? Shortly after I finished my Ph.D. …
We Need Heroes: Countering Cultural Despair with an Exhibit of Exemplars
There is a great boom in psychotherapy these days. Especially among a younger generation, people are lonely, anxious about the environment, insecure financially—fearful they will not achieve the same standard as their …
Donald E. Miller: ‘Spiritual exemplars’ change the media narrative about religion
This article was originally published on Religion News Service, with the support of CRCC’s global project on engaged spirituality. Media stories about religion often focus on corruption in religious institutions, politicians’ alliances with conservative Christians and …
Tom Catena: Choosing Joy Over Happiness
This article was originally published by Religion Unplugged, with the support of CRCC’s global project on engaged spirituality. GIDEL, Sudan — The media is filled with articles on how to achieve happiness, including in …
Witness as Ministry: Serving God and Refugees in Beirut
Beirut, Lebanon has been wrecked by war and strife for many decades. More recently, there has been a flood of refugees from Syria and, in 2020, much of the city was leveled …
Jean Bouchebel: Retired From World Vision, but Not From Serving God and Refugees
This article was originally published by Christianity Today, with the support of CRCC’s global project on engaged spirituality. When Jean Bouchebel retired at age 70, he was not ready to simply relax. …
Why Genocide Survivors Can Offer a Way to Heal from the Trauma of the Pandemic
This article was originally published in The Conversation. The pandemic has been a period of acute trauma at many levels. More than 3 million people have died globally from COVID-19, including over …
Sister Rosemary Nyirumbe: A Skeptic’s Take On A Nun’s Vocation To Serve The Poor Regardless Of Risks
This article was originally published by Religion Unplugged, with the support of CRCC’s global project on engaged spirituality. ATIAK, Uganda— Studying religion all of my academic career has made me into a bit of …
Ida Puliwa: How A Stranger’s Kindness Transformed A Village In Malawi
This article was originally published in Religion Unplugged, with the support of CRCC’s global project on engaged spirituality. In my last international trip before the pandemic, I had the chance to interview a young …
Will Our Sense of Solidarity Fall Victim to the Pandemic?
I recently argued in a piece for Religion News Service that the pandemic is leading religious institutions and our moral perceptions through a process of creative destruction, one in which an increasing …
Faith, hope and creative destruction: religious responses to COVID-19
This article was originally published in Religion News Service, with the support of CRCC’s global project on engaged spirituality. (RNS) — In France, a hip female rabbi has improbably developed a large interfaith …
Jean Gakwandi: Rwanda Ministry Brings Genocide Survivors Hope
This article was originally published in Christianity Today, with the support of CRCC’s global project on engaged spirituality. It was raining ferociously, causing the women and orphans to move away from the …
USC Institute of Armenian Studies: Unpacking Armenian Studies with Dr. Donald Miller
CRCC’s Donald E. Miller appeared on New Roads, a podcast by the Institute for Armenian Studies at USC. He talks about the oral histories of Rwandan and Armenian genocide survivors, as well …
VOA News: Rwandan, Armenian Genocides Remembered in April
April 7 marks the Day of Remembrance of the Victims of the Rwanda Genocide. To mark the day, Voice of America featured Donald and Lorna Miller’s new book, Becoming Human Again: An …
Can Religion Help Survivors Regain Their Humanity? A Reflection on the Rwandan Genocide
The following article originally appear in Tui Motu InterIslands Magazine, a New Zealand publication. One of the first survivors that I interviewed in Rwanda after the 1994 genocide told me that his …
Becoming Human Again: An Oral History of the Rwanda Genocide against the Tutsi
Becoming Human Again: An Oral History of the Rwanda Genocide against the Tutsi By Donald E. Miller with Lorna Touryan Miller and Arpi Misha Miller (University of California Press, 2020) Genocide involves …
A Cultural Tipping Point: Reflections of David Brooks’ Two Mountains
We are at a cultural tipping point. Hyper-individualism, postmodern rhetoric that relativizes every truth and narcissistic political posturing exhaust us. More people are dying annually of drug overdoses than in the Vietnam …
Arab News: Miller on Remembering the Armenian Genocide
April 24, 1915 marked the beginning of the brutal Armenian Genocide where up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed by the Ottoman Empire. Now over a century later, the Turkish government continues …