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2018-01-25
Association for the Sociology of Religion;
Why did Americans vote for Donald Trump in the 2016 Presidential election? Social scientists have proposed a variety of explanations, including economic dissatisfaction, sexism, racism, Islamophobia, and xenophobia. The current study establishes that, independent of these influences, voting for Trump was, at least for many Americans, a symbolic defense of the United States' perceived Christian heritage. Data from a national probability sample of Americans surveyed soon after the 2016 election shows that greater adherence to Christian nationalist ideology was a robust predictor of voting for Trump, even after controlling for economic dissatisfaction, sexism, anti-black prejudice, anti-Muslim refugee attitudes, and anti-immigrant sentiment, as well as measures of religion, sociodemographics, and political identity more generally. These findings indicate that Christian nationalist ideology—although correlated with a variety of class-based, sexist, racist, and ethnocentric views—is not synonymous with, reducible to, or strictly epiphenomenal of such views. Rather, Christian nationalism operates as a unique and independent ideology that can influence political actions by calling forth a defense of mythological narratives about America's distinctively Christian heritage and future.
2018-01-01
John Templeton Foundation;
People demonstrate generosity in myriad ways, from gifts of time and money to everyday acts of kindness toward loved ones—and even to deeds that involve substantial self-sacrifice, like donating a kidney to a stranger. But we are often nowhere near as generous as we could (or even aspire to) be. In short: although we have the capacity to be generous, we don't always act generously.
What are the biological, psychological, and social factors that encourage people to give time, money, and assistance? What effects does such generous behavior have on their well-being? What accounts for differences in individual levels of generosity—and what methods might encourage individuals to give more? Are there evidence-based strategies for cultivating greater degrees of generosity? Such questions have given rise to numerous studies, the results of which are described in a new report commissioned by the John Templeton Foundation. The document provides a high-altitude overview of more than 350 studies and meta-studies published in nearly 200 refereed publications between 1971 and 2017.
2017-09-12
NAACP;
In the United States, the Black community bears the greatest burden of the HIV epidemic, more than any other racial or ethnic group. While African Americans represent just 12% of the total population, they account for 41% of all people living with HIV and 44% of all new infections. In fact, if the African-American community were its own country, it would rank 11th in the world for new HIV infections. Today, the HIV epidemic is one of the most pressing health issues facing the Black community.
To address the urgent need for action, The Black Church & HIV initiative was established to form a national network of faith leaders, religious institutions, and community members committed to making change and ending the HIV epidemic in Black America. There is an immediate need for faith leaders to take action for what is happening with HIV in the Black community. For generations, the Black Church has been a leader for change in the Black community on issues of social justice, including voting rights and employment opportunities. Today, we are applying this tradition of social justice advocacy to the HIV epidemic.
The NAACP, in partnership with Gilead Sciences, Inc., made a Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) Commitment to Action in 2013 to further the initiative and enlist faith leaders as change agents to address the disparate and severe impact of HIV on African Americans. The initiative is working to overcome stigma and address HIV as an issue of social justice by:
Conducting faith leader trainings across the 30 U.S. cities with the greatest HIV burden
Obtaining formal resolutions from mainline denominations to incorporate HIV messaging into Church activities
Integrating HIV-related materials into required course curricula in predominantly Black seminaries.
2017-07-26
Pew Research Center;
The early days of Donald Trump's presidency have been an anxious time for many Muslim Americans, according to a new Pew Research Center survey. Overall, Muslims in the United States perceive a lot of discrimination against their religious group, are leery of Trump and think their fellow Americans do not see Islam as part of mainstream U.S. society. At the same time, however, Muslim Americans express a persistent streak of optimism and positive feelings. Overwhelmingly, they say they are proud to be Americans, believe that hard work generally brings success in this country and are satisfied with the way things are going in their own lives – even if they are not satisfied with the direction of the country as a whole.
2017-06-15
Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR);
Islamophobia is a closed-minded hatred, fear or prejudice toward Islam and Muslims that results in discrimination, marginalization and oppression. It creates a distorted understanding of Islam and Muslims and transforms diversity in name, language, culture,ethnicity, and race into a set of stereotyped characteristics. As such, Islamophobia is a system of both religious and racial animosity.
2017-04-26
Pew Research Center;
The idea that highly educated people are less religious, on average, than those with less education has been a part of the public discourse for decades, but some scholars of religion have called this notion into question. And a new analysis of Pew Research Center surveys shows that the relationship between religion and education in the United States is not so simple.
2017-03-01
Jim Joseph Foundation;
"Smart Money: Recommendations for an Educational Technology and Digital Engagement Investment Strategy"—compiled by Lewis J. Bernstein and Associates, is the result of a co-investment. It includes a provocative set of recommendations for the Jim Joseph Foundation and William Davidson Foundations to consider and an illuminating landscape analysis of the educational technology field. The report was initially commissionedfor the foundations' internal purposes, without explicit plans to share it widely. However, after reviewing it, it was understood that the learnings here are highly relevant to others in the field: funders, practitioners, community leaders, and anyone interested in how tools of educational technology and digital engagement could advance cultural and religious learning and engagement. Because of the report's substance, there is a desire and a responsibility to share it. There is also the belief that it offers an important look into the process foundations undertake to explore a new space in which to consider developing an investment strategy.
2017-01-01
Coucil on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR);
CAIR provides legal and advocacy services to people who have been targeted by bias.
The organization employs 35 staff attorneys and has a presence in 22 states. These attorneys are tasked to assist every client in obtaining a just and fair resolution to their case, free of charge.
While CAIR's focus is to win justice for each client, processing these cases provides the organization with a wealth of data. During the 2014-2016 period, CAIR staff processed a total of 11,427 incidents of potential bias.
This report assembles this data to offer a larger and more comprehensive reflection of the civil rights implications of Islamophobic bias in the United States.
CAIR is committed to protecting the civil rights of all Americans, regardless of faith. We do so with gratitude for the protections already established through the long, and often ugly, struggles of other targeted communities. As we work to help our clients, our broader goal is to set legal precedent, pass laws, and shape a social environment in which every American enjoys the basic right to be free from unequal treatment.
2017-01-01
Rockefeller Archive Center;
In the wake of the United States Civil War, a transatlantic network of former abolitionists launched a new movement that made sex -- hitherto the jurisdiction of the family and the local community -- into an international political issue, intimately linked to imperialism, militarism, immigration, labor, temperance, and women's rights. My dissertation, "Purifying the World: Americans and International Sexual Reform, 1865-1933," examines American reformers who saw sexuality as the key international humanitarian and political issue of their day. My project tracks this reform movement from its beginning -- with the work of American abolitionists and missionaries who turned their attention to stateregulated prostitution in the British Empire after the Civil War -- to its denouement in the activities of interwar Americans who traveled the globe investigating the "traffic in women" for the League of Nations. For over a halfcentury, American reformers participated in pitched international debates about how to address sexual wrongs. As they did so, they wove together religious, medical, and legal discourses in ways that made sexual matters the provenance of international politics.
2017-01-01
Conrad N. Hilton Foundation;
The Foundation awarded the Center for Religion and Civic Culture (CRCC) at the University of Southern California a grant in 2014 to measure, evaluate and learn (MEL) about the effectiveness of the Initiative's five-year strategy. CRCC's second MEL report captures learning about the context in which the Foundation operates. It attempts to measure progress on the Sisters Initiative's indicators of success and evaluate its portfolio and current strategy. It concludes with a look forward at the second iteration of the Sisters Initiative strategy, due in 2018, with questions for the Foundation to answer before setting its new course.
2016-11-29
Centre for Asian Philanthropy and Society (CAPS);
For more than 60 years, the social services and development ministry of the Archdiocese of Manila have helped the less fortunate to find self-reliance and dignity. In doing so, it has cultivated its next generation of leaders and donors.
Caritas Manila works to benefit the disadvantaged of Manila in the areas of social development, family empowerment, social entrepreneurship and other special concerns. And though it operates as a distinct, non-profit entity that is separate from the Catholic Church with only 26 full-time employees, it is able to use its vast infrastructure to do much of its work; thousands of volunteers from the 365 Catholic parishes across the city work on the frontline to help programs and deliver services.
Fr. Anton Pascual, executive director of Caritas Manila, describes it as "a non-governmental organization that is faith-rooted and love driven," whose goals are to help the least, the last, and the lost. "Because we are the church, we build a Christian community," he said. "You get the best of both worlds: the best of church and the best of NGO."
2016-09-01
American Institutes for Research;
The Jim Joseph Foundation created the Education Initiative to increase the number of educators and educational leaders who are prepared to design and implement high-quality Jewish education programs. The Jim Joseph Foundation granted $45 million to three premier Jewish higher education institutions (each institution received $15 million) and challenged them to plan and implement programs that used new content and teaching approaches to increase the number of highly qualified Jewish educators serving the field. The three grantees were Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC-JIR), the Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS), and Yeshiva University (YU). The grant covered program operation costs as well as other costs associated with institutional capacity building. The majority of the funds (75 percent) targeted program planning and operation. The grantees designed and piloted six new master's degree and doctoral degree programs or concentrations;1 eight new certificate, leadership, and professional development programs;2 two new induction programs;3 and four new seminars within the degree programs. 4 The Education Initiative also supported financial assistance for students in eight other advanced degree programs. 5 The grantees piloted innovative teaching models and expanded their use of educational technology in the degree and professional development programs. According to the theory of change that drives the Jim Joseph Foundation's Education Initiative, five types of activities must take place if higher education institutions are to successfully enhance the Jewish education workforce. These activities include (1) improved marketing and recruitment of talented individuals into ongoing education programs, (2) a richer menu of programs requiring different commitments of time to complete and offering varying content, (3) induction programs to support program participants' transition to new employment settings, (4) well-planned and comprehensive strategies for financial sustainability, and (5) interinstitutional collaboration. As shown in Exhibit 1, the five types of activities are divided into two primary categories. The first category (boxes outlined in green) addresses the delivery of programs that provide educators and educational leaders with research-based and theory-based knowledge and vetted instructional tools. The second category (boxes outlined in orange) is not programmatic; rather, it involves sharing knowledge, building staff capabilities, enhancing management structures, and providing technological and financial support to enable the development of quality programming that is sustainable after the grant ends.
