ABSTRACT

Religion strongly infl uences people’s behavior and is a central element in societal culture. The infl uence of religion is evident through directly related actions such as: praying, attending church, eating particular foods or the way the calendar year is arranged. Religious orientations also infl uence non-religious activities, such as: voting behavior, economic behavior and moral attitudes toward questions, e.g. abortion and homosexuality (Pickel 2001). They can provoke confl icts and even civil wars, such as those between Muslims and Hindus in India and Pakistan, between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland, and the continuing tensions in the Balkans. The United States is an example of a modernized country in which this strong relationship between religion and politics holds true: American presidents typically end their public addresses with “God bless America.”1