One commonly hears that religion influences people.' In this deeply informed and accessible book, Christian Smith ignores the postmodern claims that religion is merely a discursive category and provides a critical realist account of what it means to speak of the caUSl power of a set of religious practices. The result is a social scientific theory that explains why religions continue to be powerful entities operating in the world.--Kevin Schilbrack, author of Philosophy and the Study of Religions: A Manifesto sakriti opis