Includes bibliographical references (pages 111-128) and index.

Preface: Why religion matters -- What religion is -- What religion does -- How religion is expressed -- How religion has changed -- Global religion today.

"At a historical moment when globalizing forces have intensified and two competing trends are at work-religion is simultaneously bringing us people together and pulling us people apart-everyone who aspires to be an informed global citizen needs to understand religion. It doesn't matter whether you find religion compelling or whether if your nation seems to be more and more secular. What matters is that billions around the world practice a faith-and that they act from it. It Religion shapes how they enter the world and how they leave it, and how they eat, dress, marry-, and raise their children. It shapes their assumptions about who they are and who they want to be. Religion also identifies insiders and outsiders, who has power and who does not. It both sanctifies injustice and combats it. It draws national borders. It affects law, economy, and government. It destroys and restores the environment. It starts wars and ends them. Whether you notice it or not, religions play a role in how billions of people conduct their lives. We are called, then, to understand this important factor in human life today"-- Provided by publisher.