This book reports three studies that were undertaken of what "moves" people - firstly, as individuals, through verbal interviews; secondly, in a public house, through working behind the bar, & thirdly, in a residential community, through being the Rector of a parish.

Claiming that the realm of the sacred in modern societies is characterized more by rediscovery than by revival, Wuthnow examines the main theoretical approaches toward religion that have emerged of late in the social sciences and shows how these approaches can help explain the shifting location of the sacred.

As the new millennium approaches, the sacred and profane interface, conflict, and intermingle in novel ways. The Encyclopedia of Religion and Society provides a guide map for these developments. From succinct, brief notes to essay-length entries, it covers world religions, religious perspectives on political and social issues, and religious leaders and scholars -- present and past -- in the United States and the world. This comprehensive volume is an essential reference for studies in the anthropology, psychology, politics, and sociology of religion. Topics include: abortion, adolescence, African-American religious experience, anthropology of religion, Buddhism, commitment, conversion, definition of religion, ecology movement, Emile Durkheim, ethnicity, fundamentalism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, new religious movements, organization, parish, Talcott Parsons, racism, research methods, Roman Catholicism, sexism, Unification Church, Max Weber, and many others.

When God disappears from a secular society, religious beliefs surface in other non-religious sectors of society, e.g. sport as religion. Edward Bailey argues that within and beneath everyday practices of non-religious pursuits lie hidden religious-ethical assumptions that mostly go unnoticed, that is, i.e. implicit rather than explicit. In this volume Bailey sets out what is meant by 'implicit religion, ' and proposes a methodology for studying implicit religion and how it can encourage greater understanding between secular and religious spheres.

Religion is now high on the public agenda, with recent events focusing the world's attention on Islam in particular. This book provides a unique historical and comparative analysis of the place of religion in the emergence of modern secular society. Bryan S. Turner considers the problems of multicultural, multi-faith societies and legal pluralism in terms of citizenship and the state, with special emphasis on the problems of defining religion and the sacred in the secularisation debate. He explores a range of issues central to current debates: the secularisation thesis itself, the communications revolution, the rise of youth spirituality, feminism, piety and religious revival. Religion and Modern Society contributes to political and ethical controversies through discussions of cosmopolitanism, religion and globalisation. It concludes with a pessimistic analysis of the erosion of the social in modern society and the inability of new religions to provide 'social repair'.