Book excerpt: Throughout recorded history, the primary sources of conflict in life have been religion and ethics. The 21st Century is right on track, from the war in the Middle East to sectarian violence nearly everywhere else. Hardly a day goes by without headlines about religious conflicts.Additionally, the news is filled with the shenanigans of Enron, WorldCom, and Solyndra, forcing hard questions about business ethics to the forefront of peoples' minds.THE GODS OF BUSINESS is an indispensable guide for discovering the intersection of faith and the marketplace. In plain language, Todd Albertson reveals the anatomy of the world's major religions - Buddhism, Christianity, Confucianism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Secular Postmodernism, Shintoism, and Sikhism - and discusses how their spiritual traditions impact business ethics.Provocative, eye-opening, and funny, THE GODS OF BUSINESS provides telling insights into the loudly proclaimed dogmas and silent subtleties that dramatically affect individuals - businesspeople, educators, politicians, journalists, students, and others - who are unaware of, or confused about, diverse religious beliefs, or who are just wishing they could turn back the clock and deal with their hometown ways of doing things.THE GODS OF BUSINESS is, as the MIDWEST BOOK REVIEW writes, "A 'must-have' primer for anyone unfamiliar with basic tenets of world religions in today's era of globalization.