"Classical" and "Tibetan" Buddhism -- Devotion to Isis in the Roman Empire -- The revival of Islam and the Iranian revolution -- Renewal movements and resistance to empire in ancient Judea -- The Roman emperor cult -- Christmas, the festival of consumer capitalism -- Epilogue: Religion as effect of or response to imperial power.

Richard Horsley discusses the complex relationship between (guess) religion and empire going back thousands of years in history. The current secular "separation of church and state" model that requires a privatized religion is really quite foreign to human affairs; more often than not a society's religion played a large part in shaping its cultural identity and values.

So Horsley juxtaposes ancient and modern examples of the ways in which religion and politics interact. The most interesting juxtaposition to me was the way he equated our present day Christmas frenzy with Roman emperor worship. Christmas, in its present incarnation, is far removed from most of religion, due to our privatization of the latter, but devotion to capitalism and material goods gets "worshipped," in some sense, instead. Both the Christmas season and emperor worship become totemic religious symbols for their society, building loyalty and encouraging participation by good citizens, and it grows cyclically to strengthen people's devotion to the empire. ( )