Table of Contents

Introduction 1. Rethinking Religious Literacy and Pluralism: Crossing Cultures, Making Covenants, and Engaging Globally Part I: What is Religious Literacy For? Philosophical and Religious Perspectives on Covenantal Pluralism 2. Covenantal Pluralism: Toward a World of Peaceable Neighborhoods 3. Covenantal Pluralism: Perspectives from Jewish History and Thought 4. Fratelli Tutti, Lessons Learned from Interreligious Action, and the Catholic Church 5. Are Calvinists for Pluralism? The Politics and Practice of a Protestant Possibility 6. Deed Over Idea: Toward a Shared Caliphate 7. Hinduism, Insular Pluralism, and Religious Literacy 8. The Elephant in the Room: Buddhist Religious Exclusivism and Prospects for Covenantal Pluralism 9. Isomorphism, Syncretism, and Poly-ontological Dynamics: The Implications of Chinese Religion for Covenantal Pluralism 10. On Neutrality and the Nones: Secular Humanism, Covenantal Pluralism, and "Religious" Literacy PART II: Who Needs Religious Literacy? Perspectives on Professional Fields 11. Religious Literacy and K-12 Education 12. Religious Literacy and Higher Education 13. International Studies, Religion, and Cross-Cultural Religious Literacy 14. Religious Literacy in Development and Humanitarian Relief 15. Religious Literacy and Diplomacy 16. Religious Literacy, Chaplaincy, and Spiritual Care 17. Corporate Religious Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion as Covenantal Pluralism 18. Religious Literacy and Social Services 19. Religious Literacy and American Journalism: A Charge to Public Service PART III: Where Can Religious Literacy and Covenantal Pluralism Make a Difference? Case Studies and Practitioner Perspectives 20. Engagement & Embrace—from Apartheid to Democracy: A Reflection on Rupture and a Toolkit for Transition 21. The Secularism Paradox: Living with Deep Difference in the Middle East 22. Two Steps Forward, One Step Back: Prospects for Covenantal Pluralism in Laos and Vietnam 23. Cross-Cultural Religious Literacy, Competencies, and Skills: An Indonesian Experience 24. ‘Salad Bowl’ Secularism: India’s Covenant to Preserve Pluralism 25. Religious Literacy and Pakistan’s Pluralist Potential 26. Geo-Religious Literacy, Orthodoxy, and Plurality in Russia: Prospects for Covenantal Pluralism 27. Transition and Transformation in Western Europe: Possibilities for Covenantal Pluralism 28. Religious Literacy, Racial Literacy, and Latin America’s Overdue Reckoning with Deep Diversity 29. Cross-Cultural Religious Literacy and Pluralist Leadership in the United States 30. Understanding—and Bridging—Religious Liberty Tribalism: A Case Study in Talking About Muslims’ Rights with Christian Conservatives in America 31. Seeking a Virtuous Feedback Loop: Robust Pluralism and Civic Engagement in the United States 32. Fairness as a Path Forward on LGBTQ Rights and Religious Liberty 33. From the Pulpit to Pluralism: A Personal Reflection

About the Author

Chris Seiple, Ph.D., The Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy, is president emeritus of the Institute for Global Engagement, USA, and principal advisor to the Templeton Religion Trust’s Covenantal Pluralism Initiative. A former U.S. Marine infantry officer, he has served as a senior fellow for Comparative Religion at the University of Washington’s Jackson School of International Studies, as senior advisor to the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Evidence-Based Summit on Strategic Religious Engagement (2020), and as co-chair of the U.S. secretary of state’s “Religion and Foreign Policy Working Group” (2011–2013).

Dennis R. Hoover, D.Phil., Oxford University, is editor of The Review of Faith & International Affairs; research advisor to the Templeton Religion Trust’s Covenantal Pluralism Initiative; and senior fellow at the Institute for Global Engagement, USA. He is co-editor with Mariano Barbato and Robert Joustra of Modern Papal Diplomacy and Social Teaching in World Affairs (2019); editor of Religion and American Exceptionalism (2014); and co-editor with Chris Seiple and Pauletta Otis of The Routledge Handbook of Religion and Security (2013).