Archive
Want to Build a More Resilient City? Bring Faith to the Table
Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti recently announced his commitment to hire a Chief Resilience Officer, who will be tasked with increasing the city’s ability to recover from man-made and natural disasters. This …
The Burbs Are All Right: Religion, Sprawl and L.A.’s Urban Logic
As a part of our Religious Competition and Creative Innovation project, our research team meets once each month for “idea lunches” during which we have freewheeling discussions about what we’re seeing in …
Working with U.S. Faith Communities During Crises, Disasters and Public Health Emergencies: A Field Guide for Engagement, Partnerships and Religious Competency
This field guide provides detailed instructions for engaging and building sustainable and competent partnerships with faith communities throughout the entire disaster lifecycle. It is accompanied by a Religious Literacy Primer. Published by …
The Religious Literacy Primer for Crises, Disasters and Public Health Emergencies
A companion to the Field Guide for Religious Competency, the Religious Literacy Primer is a quick-reference document which provides information on basic religious literacy for 23 of the largest religious communities in …
Our Lady of Perpetual Surf
In the contemporary annals of Catholic apparitions, the Virgin Mary has typically appeared in response to prayer, a conversion or a plea for healing. But until Good Friday 2011, she had never …
Religion and Public Diplomacy
Religion and Public Diplomacy Philip Seib, editor (Palgrave Macmillan: 2013) Religion and Public Diplomacy discusses the volatile consequences that can be a result of mixing religion, new communications technologies …
Breaking Down the Wall between Church and State
CRCC Research Associate Rebecca Sager has co-authored an article published in the Oxford Journal of Church and State. The paper explores the role of government in the promotion or facilitation of religion …
The Faith-Based Initiative: 17 Years of Making Religion an Official Part of Government Seem Normal
Many have forgotten about the faith-based initiative by now. The once contentious and controversial set of policy initiatives, created by the conservative evangelical movement with the purported goal of encouraging religious organizations …
Obama offers compromise on birth control health coverage
The Obama administration has proposed a compromise over the mandated coverage of contraceptives in the Affordable Healthcare Act that was approved by Congress in 2012. Officials state that the proposed mandate will …
The Presidential Inauguration as Civil Religion
The recent controversy over the presidential inaugural benediction provides a nice opening for considering the role such acts play in America today. One might ask why in a pluralistic, disestablished society we …
Turkeys Aren’t the Only Ones Sticking their Necks on the Block This Year
Government agencies and spirituality go together like, well, they don’t. Remember that all-encompassing conversation stopper: SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE! As far as amendments go, the first is quite memorable. Not being …
Faithful Action: Working with Religious Groups in Disaster Planning, Response and Recovery
Executive Summary Faith-based organizations provide services before, during, and after disasters. Studies of catastrophes—from 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina to local wildfires—describe the important role of the faith community as a source of …
National Preparedness and the Role of Religious Competency
This September marks the ninth annual National Preparedness Month, one of the many efforts our government has undertaken to engage whole communities in building disaster resiliency, including faith communities, citizen corps councils, …
Faith Community’s Call to Action: 20 Years After the L.A. Riots
Brie Loskota testified at a public hearing hosted by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and the Los Angeles City Human Relations Commission. The event, “L.A. Civil Unrest: A Community Blueprint for the Next 20 …
Religion’s Uneasy Place: Religious Engagement vs. Religious Freedom in American Public Affairs and Public Diplomacy
CRCC Managing Director Brie Loskota delivered the following as her concluding keynote address at the 8th Annual American Studies Network Conference at Northeast Normal University in Changchun, China, in September. Download “Religion’s …
Outcomes Measurement in the Human Services: Cross-Cutting Issues and Methods
Outcomes Measurement in the Human Services, 2nd Ed.: Cross-Cutting Issues and Methods in the Era of Health Reform Jennifer L. Magnabosco and Ronald W. Manderscheid, Editors (NASW Press: 2011) …
How Can Public Officials Engage With Religion? Faith and Diplomacy Briefing
Brie Loskota delivered the following remarks at a Faith and Diplomacy Briefing in Washington, D.C. on April 11, 2011. The event was sponsored by the USC Center on Public Diplomacy. I was …
Who Voted and Does It Matter? A New Agenda in Washington
A panel of politically informed commentators assess the policy implications of the new administration. Together with politically engaged students, they look at whether religion mattered in this election and its role within the new administration.
Protecting the Shared Archeological Heritage of Israel-Palestine
Recognizing, preserving and protecting cultural heritage in conflict zones
Global Pentecostalism: The New Face of Christian Social Engagement
Global Pentecostalism: The New Face of Christian Social Engagement Donald E. Miller & Tetsunao Yamamori, Authors (University of California Press: 2007) How and why is Christianity’s center …