This article argues that zero‐sum, forced‐choice approaches to measuring religious belief do not work well outside of the Abrahamic world. Positive‐sum approaches to measuring religious beliefs (in the plural) are better suited to the study of polytheistic societies. Using results from a nationally representative survey conducted in 2011 Taiwan, we demonstrate that in a polytheistic society like Taiwan, religious belief is not zero sum. We also contrast our results with those of the Taiwan Social Change Survey (TSCS), and seek to show that our positive‐sum approach to measuring religious beliefs can help us better understand the disparate causes and consequences of different religious beliefs in polytheistic societies. The challenge of Christocentrism in quantitative studies of religion is also discussed.

The past forty years, and particularly the last decade, have seen a remarkable growth in Buddhism in Taiwan. Although conventional Buddhist groups such as Amithaba have prospered, the most spectacular growth has been in a home-grown, socially engaged variety. These groups describe themselves as renjian fojiao , which translates literally as "terrestrial", i.e. "this world", Buddhism, but is usually rendered "engaged" or "socially engaged". Another commonly used term is rushi, "entering" or "being in" the world, as opposed to chushi, "leaving the world". This reflects a belief that the "Pure Land" is this earth, and that their mission is to purify it. There are six groups which make some claim to be socially engaged Buddhist groups in Taiwan, and together claim over 20% of Taiwan's adult population as members. This paper will examine socially engaged Buddhist groups and their activities in Taiwan.

Interviews of 40 Taiwanese factory managers in China reveal problems with local workers, unanticipated because of the assumed shared language and culture. Problems include poor job commitment or work discipline, high turnover rates, disinterest in learning new skills or job advancement, pilferage, intergroup hostilities and poor training and education. Unable to import worker management methods and systems they had been using in Taiwan, the managers have adopted production‐based remuneration, fines, employee education, and attention to employee welfare and satisfaction.

This paper examines the relationship between the Chinese state and Protestantism. It demonstrates that it varies widely from place to place; moreover, the actual relationship between individual churches and the local authorities that are supposed to govern them paints a quite different picture from that implied by the laws and regulations. The paper also argues that the state faces a dilemma: On one hand it feels threatened by the appearance of autonomous organizations such as unregistered churches, while on the other it values the contributions they make to society and recognizes that subjecting them to the Three-Self Patriotic Movement and China Christian Council would require a good deal of force and be very socially disruptive.

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