This book is an attempt to understand some of the most important issues that have emerged in the interface between religion and society in recent decades. What is the role that religions such as Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, lslam and Judaism play in the public sphere today? How have govermments established in the name of religion fared in matters pertaining to governance?What are the forces responsible for the shift towards religion as the principal conduit for reform and protest in certain societies in Asia? ls the religious worldview and are religious values relevant to the resolution of the major crises confronting humanity today - from environmental degradation to the economic meltdown? What sort of transformation will have to take place within religion itself if it is to serve as a spiritual-moral compass in a world that is moving inexorably in the wrong direction? These are some of the questions that this book seeks to answer through both emperical analysis and theoretical reflections.

true