Faith, Ethnicity, and Culture in Refugee Resettlement

Abstract

This article addresses the role faith-based nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) play in refugee resettlement and how they are both different from and similar to secular resettlement NGOs. The author examines how faith-based and secular NGOs assist in the process of refugee resettlement in the United States. Data indicate that most faith-based resettlement NGOs are similar to secular NGOs in their practice but express their religiosity in their organizational rhetoric and networks. As a practice, religion is frequently tied to culture and, therefore, ethnic organizations engage in religious practice as a way of practicing that ethnicity’s culture.