Why Understanding America's Religious Landscape Is the Most Important Challenge Facing Us Today

• The 1990s saw the U.S. Navy commission its first Muslim chaplain and open its first mosque.
• There are presently more than three hundred temples in Los Angeles, home to the greatest variety of Buddhists in the world.
• There are more American Muslims than there are American Episcopalians, Jews, or Presbyterians.

Diana L. Eck is Professor of Comparative Religion and Indian Studies at Harvard University and is Master of Lowell House and Director of The Pluralism Project. As a Christian, she has also been involved in the United Methodist Church, the World Council of Churches, and the life of Harvard Divinity School. Her book Encountering God: A Spiritual Journey from Bozeman to Banaras won the prestigious Grawemeyer Book Award. In 1998, President Clinton awarded her the National Humanities Medal for the work of The Pluralism Project in the investigation of America's religious diversity.