What the World Believes: Analyses and Commentary on the Religion Monitor 2008

What role does religious belief play in modern life? How does it influence decisions—among people of all faiths—pertaining to education, sexuality, and the environment? As part of its Religion Monitor, the Bertelsmann Stiftung has been working since 2007 with sociologists, psychologists, theologians, and other religion experts in exploring these questions.

In this book, leading experts interpret the results, including José Casanova, head of the Berkley Center's Program on Globalization, Religion and the Secular at Georgetown University; Hans Joas, director of the Max Weber Center for Advanced Cultural and Social Studies at the University of Erfurt and member of the Committee on Social Thought at the University of Chicago; and Volkhard Krech, managing director of the Center for Religious Studies at the Ruhr University Bochum. The accompanying CD-ROM contains detailed results from the survey, information on methodology, and other background documentation.