United States Action Team Director, Byron Johnson, moderated a debate of new research measuring the contribution of faith to American society from Brian Grim, President, Religious Freedom and Business Foundation and Associate Scholar at the Religious Freedom Project. 

While much conversation about religion in contemporary society focuses on the negative aspects of religion, from terrorism to clerical abuse, this new research, the first of its kind, seeks to quantify the contribution of faith to the American economy. Historically, religion has been viewed as a force for good in American society, and this research demonstrates by one measure, exactly how much good it does. 

The debate featured Brian Grim, John J. DiIulio, and Byron Johnson, who examined the merits of the study, as well as its limitations and opportunities for continued work on the topic.

The event: Measuring Faith: Quantifying and Examining Religion’s Contributions to American Society was co-hosted by the Religious Freedom Project of Georgetown University’s Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs and the Institute for the Studies of Religion at Baylor University. 

Learn More about the Faith Counts research: The Socio-Economic Contributions of Religion to American Society: An Empirical Analysis

Byron Johnson, United States Action Team Director and Director of Baylor University’s Institute for Studies of Religion.

Brian Grim, President of the Religious Freedom & Business Foundation and Associate Scholar of the Religious Freedom Project.

Panelists discussed the new research and future lines of inquiry.

John J. DiIulio, Jr. (center) is the Frederic Fox Leadership Professor at the University of Pennsylvania and faculty director of the Fox Leadership Program and the Program for Research on Religion and Urban Civil Society (PRRUCS).

Photo Credit: Religious Freedom Project / Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs.