Finally, while it is clear that religion has influence in global power broking and through the ubiquity of personal belief, religion also exercises power in an inverted sense (anti-power power). The people who have real power are not those running governments or consumers spending billions everyday. Instead, real power is found amongst the dispossessed and disenfranchised of the world.

This may sound strange – how can people with no economic or social strength have power? Some believe that the poor are closer to God because God always sides with the marginalised and downtrodden. The Bible, for instance, refers to the 'preferential option for the poor', wherein God recognises that those without material wealth need to be protected and supported not only because they are poor but also because God cares about the weak.

Therefore the poor have power because their concerns make them closer to God than the rich. And given that most of the world is materially poor, we can argue they have the greater influence over God.

Added to this, real power is found amongst those who don't crave it, are willing to renounce it and who seek power in powerlessness. For example, Christianity, Islam and Buddhism all assert ascetic belief systems that promote simple living, self-sacrifice and even poverty as a means of seeking spiritual purity and awareness. Within these traditions, power is gained every time it is renounced or given away. By doing so, these people feel rich in spirit.

What all this adds up to is that religion rules the world because religious power is manifest at every level of human activity. This is so whether we consider religion in the narrow or broad definition, and whether we view power as a top down or as a bottom up force.