Berkley Center

Religious Literacy Kit for Public Sector Professionals

Core Resources

Among the most commonly cited constraints to public sector engagement with religion and religious actors are a general lack of familiarity with religion and a fear of causing offense or making mistakes by saying or doing the wrong thing. The resources compiled below are intended to serve as a “religious literacy starter kit” for public sector professionals who would like to build connections with faith communities in their work, but are unsure of how to get started. While many of these resources are primarily focused on international sectors such as peacebuilding and diplomacy, most convey broad principles and guidelines relevant to strategic religious engagement across a wide range of public sector domains.

General Guidelines for Engaging Religious Actors and Faith-Based Communities

• University of Southern California (USC) Center for Religion and Civic Culture “Ten Tips for Government Engagement with Religious Communities”
• USC Center for Religion and Civic Culture “Six Principles for Engaging Faith Communities”
• King Abdullah International Center for Intercultural and Interreligious Dialogue (KAICIID) Courses & Webinars

Guidance for Engaging Specific Faith Traditions and Religious Denominations

• Harvard Divinity School (HDS) Pluralism project Rivers of Faith: Introduction to World Religious Traditions
• United States Federal Emergency Management Agency Cultural and Religious Literacy Tip Sheets for specific religious groups and faith communities

Country-Specific Resources

• Religion, Peace, and Conflict Country Profiles
• U.S. State Department International Religious Freedom Country Reports

Sector and Issue-specific Guidance

Diplomacy

• Transatlantic Policy Network on Religion & Diplomacy (TPNRD) "Engaging Religion in Diplomacy: A Handbook"

Peacebuilding and Conflict Resolution

• Religious Peacebuilding Action Guides developed by the U.S. Institute of Peace with the Network for Religious and Traditional Peacemakers and Salam Institute for Peace and Justice
• USIP & Search for Common Ground (SFCG) online course Religious Engagement in Peacebuilding: A Common Ground Approach
• Tanenbaum Peacemakers in Action
• HarvardX online course Religion, Conflict, and Peace

Development/Humanitarian/Disasters & Emergencies

• Joint Learning Initiative on Faith and Local Communities: "Engaging With Local Faith Actors and Communities"
• USC Disasters & Religion App
• FEMA “Engaging Faith-Based Organizations”
• HDS and Oxfam “Local Humanitarian Leadership and Religious Literacy: Engaging with Religion, Faith, and Faith Actors”
• International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Religion and Humanitarian Principles

Governance & Human Rights

• United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights #Faith4Rights Toolkit
• Religions, Beliefs, and Human Rights: A Faith for Rights Approach USIP Gandhi-King Global Academy self-paced online course

General Resources on World Religions

• Pew Research Center “How the Global Religious Landscape Changed from 2010 to 2020”
• HDS The Pluralism Project Case Studies
• HarvardX online courses: 
  • World Religions Through Their Scriptures
  • Religious Literacy: Traditions and Scriptures