Religious freedom is often focused on during moments of conflict, such as when individuals or organizations must defend their beliefs against governmental or societal pressure. Whether it’s a conscientious objector refusing military service, a doctor declining to perform a procedure that contradicts their faith, or an employer seeking to hire those who share their God-centered worldview, these cases draw attention to the necessity of protecting freedom of faith and Spirit. However, focusing only on moments of conflict risks overlooking the profound, everyday ways that religious freedom shapes individuals, communities, and public life. Religious freedom is not merely a shield against […]

When Joni Mitchell sang “They paved paradise, and put up a parking lot,” she was calling out big corporations and capitalist greed. But her words also speak to other problems with parking lots: mandated parking minimum laws, one of the driving forces behind how much pavement we add to our landscapes. Parking lots are killing us; they’re not only destroying “paradise,” but they also negatively impact the health and wellness of our waterways, our communities, and our very own lives. They contribute to environmental disaster and poor health outcomes all across North America, making this an issue that is important […]

This article is part of our series looking at the Invisible Social Safety Net — all of those houses of worship and faith-based organizations that provide essential social services to their communities, sometimes with the help of government funding and sometimes without that assistance. In order to unleash the power of the social safety net to support our most vulnerable neighbors, CPJ advocates for state, local, and federal governments who need to understand how to partner with and support these “invisible” links who serve not because they have to by law, but because faithfulness to their tradition calls them to […]

On the campaign trail, President-elect Donald Trump did not make promises about the faith-based initiative. However, since the election, he has promised to reestablish a White House faith-based office and to give it a direct link into the Oval Office.  After his inauguration, when President Trump puts in place a high-level White House entity to engage with faith-based organizations, he will be continuing a pattern of presidential action stretching back more than two decades and involving presidents of both parties, including his own first term in the Oval Office.  A White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives was first […]

When addressing the issue of youth dysfunction, few think about how to care for parents. Yet for Richard Ramos, founder of the program Parents on a Mission, parental care is the first area he thinks of addressing whenever dealing with troubled youth. “Communities like to focus on the problems that rebellious youth create when we need to focus on the problems that create rebellious youth. That’s a whole different paradigm,” he told CPJ. More often than not, problems youth face can be traced back to a hardship taking place in the home and Ramos sees his program as a way […]

Most people alive today can credit some amount of family support for their success. No one is entirely ‘self-made,’ rather we all have been touched and shaped from infancy to adulthood by those around us. Family has a unique responsibility to help foster young people’s success, both in diverting youth from the juvenile justice system and in helping those who find themselves in juvenile justice facilities and reentering the community.  For youth vulnerable to the juvenile justice system, particularly those in over-policed and under-resourced communities, family support is vital to their wellbeing. Under CPJ’s framework, familial relationships are not just […]