Whether we like it or not, religion is central to the world order
IT is surely ironic that as indifference to and disengagement from religion grows in Ireland, the need to understand religion, its politico-cultural significance, its enduring appeal, and its role in society is being increasingly recognised by academics, government advisers and policymakers in the major capitals of the Western world.
Some of the reasons for this reawakened interest may be negative — a reaction to the rise of radical Islam and, in particular, to the toxic embodiment of this in the emergence of Islamic State (IS) with its cult of death.
