Milt 525 4-Mt Review of Koenig, 2006.

Review of In the Wake of Disaster: Religious Responses to Terrorism & Catastrophe

Liberty University

Summary

In the Wake of Disaster: Religious Responses to Terrorism and Catastrophe

The book In the Wake of Disaster: Religious Responses to Terrorism and Catastrophe by Harold G. Koenig, provides great insight and guidance into the counseling field, especially to counselors that are new to the field and working in areas that have been affected by a disaster of some type (Koenig, 2006). Professor Koenig was contacted to complete a study that described how faith-based organizations responded to natural disasters and terrorism attacks in communities across the globe. Koenig discovered in his study, that when a community was affected with a natural disaster, the faith-based agencies are often the first ones to respond and the last ones to leave, much like the Marine Corps are in war zones (Koenig, 2006). Understanding the importance that the first outside responders to disaster sights have on that community will impact those responding to the scene and helping the ones affected cope with the aftermath of the disaster. Every year, many Americans are affected by natural disasters, like hurricanes, earthquakes, terrorism attacks, and major flooding, and often cost the state and citizens of those affected many millions of dollars to repair the damage, and that does not include the damage done on a mental scale (Koenig, 2006). From the very beginning of the book, Koenig described how the faith-based agencies do not receive the credit they deserve, and how the federal government does not always provide these agencies with all the information they request to help the communities affected more efficiently (Koenig, 2006).

Koenig demonstrates that faith-based agencies do more than just sit and pray with the victims,as they provide shelter, clothing, food, and comfort to those affected by the disaster that occurred(Koenig, 2006). The...