American Families of Faith

"Although religious intolerance and marginalization still exist today, research suggests that perhaps one of the most marginalized groups is those who report no religion. Through interviews with 31 nonreligious couples, we investigated what nonreligious parents want religious people to understand about them and their families.

". . . we identified three themes related to what our participants wanted religious people to know: (1) we are good people, good parents, and not that different from you; (2) religion does not equate with morality; and (3) do not judge beliefs, actions are what matter. We identified an additional theme regarding how they would like to convey these and other matters to religious people, that we termed as (4) I do/do not want to talk about religion and here is why."

Laura McKeighen reads the scholarly article, "Perceptions of Nonreligious Parents" which was originally published in Journal of Family Issues on March 4, 2022.

"The balance between parents’ profound desires for children to remain faithful and their simultaneous desire to honor their children’s agency showed up over and over in our own American Families of Faith project. As we’ve probed deeper into parents’ wishes to have their children remain in their religion, we discovered different ways parents navigated this significant wrestle."

Laura McKeighen reads the article, "Will My Kids Keep the Faith? Parents’ Hopes and Children’s Choices" which was originally published in Public Square Magazine on May 5, 2022.

Dr. Loren Marks, co-director of the American Families of Faith project, reflects on his "holy envy" for Asian Christian families in the United States. Their courage to embrace change in a new land, sincerely follow their beliefs, and serve through pragmatic collectivism are a few of the strengths to be admired among the Asian Christian community.

If you’d like more insight into how religious families draw on their spiritual beliefs to strengthen their marital relationships and parenting, check out our public scholarship articles at Public Square Magazine.

"The term holy envy was developed by the late Krister Stendahl, who was Dean of the Harvard Divinity School and then Church of Sweden Bishop of Stockholm. This concept is core to the multi-faith research my colleagues and I do in the American Families of Faith project.

"At the end of the semester, students write a paper on holy envy. This assignment asks students to “List and briefly discuss the 5 most important, personally meaningful, and/or helpful ideas you learned this semester about how those of other faiths practice their religion about which you felt some kind of holy envy.”

"I would like to share what students in one class from one university learned about one idea: holy envy."

David Dollahite reads the article, "Holy Envy: What We Learn By Studying Other Faiths" which was originally published in RealClearReligion on May 4, 2020.

Dr. Loren Marks and Dr. David Dollahite, co-directors of the American Families of Faith project, share thoughts about how their study of various families of faith has led them to a sense of deep admiration or “holy envy” for religious practices from other faiths.

The "empathy wall" is an obstacle to a deep understanding of someone else that can make us feel indifferent or even hostile to those that hold different beliefs.

Our hope religiously, is that we will be able to foster and facilitate a deeper understanding of how persons and families in eight different faith communities live their lives. We strive to climb the "empathy wall" and hope you join us in developing a deep respect and "holy envy": to see in someone else, attributes and elements that others can envy in a holy, or righteous, kind of way.

If you’d like more insight into how religious families draw on their spiritual beliefs to strengthen their marital relationships and parenting, check out our public scholarship articles at Public Square Magazine.

"The diverse families of faith we have interviewed practiced a wide range of religious rituals and activities at home. These practices reportedly deepened their faith in God and strengthened their sense of connection with their family members. Such patterns of home-based worship take on pointed relevance in our current COVID-19 context where houses of worship have been closed. 

"Prayer, studying scripture, singing hymns, lighting candles, discussing spiritual topics, storytelling, a shared meal—all of these shared acts can be elements of family worship. And service to others in the human family comprises yet another way for families to worship God together. "

Loren Marks reads the article, "Genuine Faith Practiced at Home Is a Powerful Antidote to Apocalyptic Fear" which was originally published in Institute for Family Studies on April 2, 2020.

"In my experience, both 9/11 and COVID-19 involve grief over profound losses, anxieties and fears about the future, suspicions of others, and divisions across political lines, as well as increased prayers for self and others, increased desire to understand those who are suffering or are different, and greater efforts to build bridges across various divides."

"To encourage hope during these difficult times, I would like to share some personal memories from the first Holy Week following 9/11."

David Dollahite reads the article, "Holy Weeks in the Shadow of Death" which was originally published in RealClearReligion on April 17, 2020.

Why the American Families of Faith Project: Enriching & Strengthening Families

In the social sciences there tends to be a focus on weaknesses and why things go wrong. The American Families of Faith Project brings a much needed balance to the study of marriages and families by focusing on the features and origins of relational strengths and health. 

If you’d like more insight into how religious families draw on their spiritual beliefs to strengthen their marital relationships and parenting, check out our public scholarship articles at Public Square Magazine.

"A large body of social science research indicates that high levels of healthy religiosity provide many personal and relational benefits that merely nominal levels of religious belief and involvement does not. To settle for the dangerous single story that religion is bad may be at least as unfortunate as the provincial narrative that religion is an unmitigated good. Our carefully measured, double story is that high levels of healthy religion is good for America’s families while what James called “sick-souled” religion is bad for everyone."

Loren Marks reads the article, "Healthy Religion is Good for American Families" which was originally published in DeseretNews on February 29, 2020.

"Religious gatherings often bring a sense of peace and safety, but in this case, religious gatherings can spread the very virus everyone hopes they and their loved ones will avoid. Whether you believe that houses of worship should remain open during this trying time, or that they should close, our research has found that meaningful religious practice at home is both possible and beautiful."

David Dollahite reads the article, "Apocalyptic Fear and Authentic Faith" which was originally published in MecatorNet on March 25, 2020.