ABSTRACT

This conclusion presents some closing thoughts on the concepts discussed in the preceding chapters of this book. The book provides an overview of religion and politics both in theory and in practice. Religion and politics is a diverse topic and it is not possible to discuss every possible issue and every possible case. It discusses what many theorists felt: that religion was not relevant in the modern era. This includes secularization theory—the predictions of religion's demise as a relevant political and social factor—and how it influenced scholarship on religion. It also includes functionalism, the argument that religion is simply a tool of more basic social, political, and economic forces and is therefore of only secondary importance. The book focuses on religious belief systems, frameworks, doctrines, and theologies. Thus religion's influence in politics is driven by belief, doctrine, and theology, but heavily influenced by religious identity, institutions, legitimacy, and the rational calculations of religious and secular actors.