Visions of development: faith-based initiatives

Abstract

As someone who fears all religions, reviewing a book on faith-based development is a particular challenge for me. I am among those whom the editor of this book charges with seeing religion ‘as part of the problem rather than as part of the solution.’ (p. 167). So I ventured into this book with trepidation. My more basic fears were laid to rest, however. Among the stories told from across the developing world, and from religions such as Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Mayan, the Bahá'í faith, and various versions of animism, is a great deal of honesty. The stories include discussions of Muslim leaders' resistance to birth control, men's resistance to women's empowerment, and the negotiation of religious tolerance between diverse faith practitioners. The stories also, of course, tell of foot bridges built, schools developed, sustainable agriculture practices instituted, and even policy changes produced by faith-based efforts. The struggles of such efforts to grow and maintain themselves, often in the face of resistance from government and secular NGOs, are also prominent in the collection. What we get, then, is a presentation of the complexity of faith-based development.