ABSTRACT
The development of caring, altruistic, and responsible citizens is a salient social concern, and one that continues to animate various lines of research in the social sciences. Given that most religions promote compassion or caring, religious and spiritual influences are never far from the discussion. Yet as Kohn (1990) points out, the relation between religious orientation and prosocial engagements is complex. Religious faith may prompt care and work for justice, yet differences across religions—heightened in part by the events of September 11th in the United States—continue to yield public conflicts from the local to the international. Fostering skills and abilities to negotiate such tensions is an important challenge for institutions of higher education, both secular and faith-based.
