As the century draws to its close, how should we think of religion? Some
see it as the survival in our midst of an outmoded, primitive way of
thinking, while others accuse the critics of simply being blind to the
meaning of religious belief. From a different perspective, the clash
between belief and unbelief is not seen as a matter of identifying
incoherent systems of thought, but as a clash between different demands
made on us by divergent ways of looking at the world. Criticisms will
flow between these perspectives. There is, however, another kind of
interest in this situation: an interest in giving just characterizations
of these different voices, so that the nature of allegiances and
oppositions to religion may be better understood.