Author Description

"Crossing the Gods examines the sometimes antagonistic, sometimes cozy relationship between religion and politics in countries around the globe.". "Eminent sociologist of religion Jay Demerath traveled to Brazil, China, Egypt, Guatemala, India, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Northern Ireland, Pakistan, Poland, Sweden, Turkey, and Thailand to explore the history and current relationship of religion, politics, and the state in each country. In the first part of this wide-ranging book, he asks, What are the basic fault lines along which current tensions and conflicts have formed? What are the trajectories of change from past to present, and how do they help predict the future? In the book's second part, the author focuses on the United States - the only nation founded specifically on the principle of a separation between religion and state - and examines the extent to which this principle actually holds and the consequences when it does not. By highlighting such issues as culture wars and religious violence, religion's different relations to politics versus the state, and the fluidity of individual religious identity, Demerath exposes the fallacies underlying many of our views on religion and politics worldwide.". "Finally, Demerath places within a comparative context the commonly held view that America is the world's most religious nation and argues that our country is not "more religious" but "differently religious." He concludes that the United States represents a unique combination of congregational religion, religious pluralism, and civil religion."--BOOK JACKET.