According to Bud Heckman’s definition, “religious literacy is the understanding of:
- The basic tenets of the world’s faiths
- The diversity of expressions and beliefs within traditions that emerge and evolve in relation to differing social/historical contexts
- The profound role that religions plays in human social, cultural, and political life in both contemporary and historical contexts.” (Religion Communicators Council)
The Center on Religion and the Professions seeks to provide professionals with the necessary tools to have a strong grasp on the many elements that comprise religious literacy. By utilizing the resources from the religious literacy toolkit, individuals have access to articles, books, case studies, journals, codes of ethics, miscellaneous groups, and syllabi that can assist in the process of developing a stronger understanding of the role of religion in the workplace. Through the development of a broader breadth of religious knowledge and its subsequent cultural impact, professionals can become more in tune with their peers of differing faith backgrounds by recognizing and embracing the impact of their beliefs on their social, cultural, political, and working lives.
The following are beneficial resources that can further assist in the professional’s journey towards religious literacy:
- Charter for Compassion
- Common Knowledge– Interfaith Youth Core’s podcast about Interfaith Literacy
- The Foundation for Religious Literacy
- The Interfaith Observer
- Patheos
- Tannenbaum Center for Interreligious Understanding
- Harvard Divinity Schools’ Religious Literacy Project
- Pew Research Center’s Religious Literacy: What Every American Should Know
- Religious Literacy Leadership in Higher Education
- Brown University’s Religious Literacy Project
- Dinham, A., & Francis, M. (Eds.). (2015). Religious Literacy in Policy and Practice.Bristol: Policy Press.
- Moore, L. D. (2007, October). Overcoming Religious Illiteracy: A Cultural Studies Approach. (Palgrave Macmillan) Retrieved October 22, 2015, from World History Connected : http://worldhistoryconnected.press.illinois.edu/4.1/moore.html
- Outcalt, T. (2015). Common Ground: Lessons and Legends from the World’s Great Faiths. New York: Skyhorse Publishing, Inc.
- Prothero, S. (2008). Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know–And Doesn’t. New York: Harpercollins Publishers.
Religion Communicators Council. (n.d.). Religious Literacy. Retrieved October 22, 2015, from Religion Communicators Council: http://www.religioncommunicators.org/religious-literacy