Why do we believe or not? What do believers practice and why? Why do some beliefs survive and others do not? At the center of religious ethnology is the occupation with foreign belief systems, with worldviews, myths, religious practices and ideas of salvation. Religious ethnology examines what people believe and what they practice every day, whether they live in remote islands or in a metropolis. Religion is part of culture and society and always interwoven with questions about identity, social justice and equality.

Bettina E. Schmidt ist Direktorin und Professorin des Alister Hardy Religious Experience Research Centre, School of Theology, Religious Studies and Islamic Studies University of Wales Trinity Saint David.