Southampton - Author Niels C. Nielsen believes it is time to revisit one of the most controversial issues of the recent presidential campaign - Obama's religious beliefs and background - and how they influence his day-to-day decisions. "God in the Obama Era" (Morgan James Publishing) begins and ends with chapters on Obama for relevance and interest, but the integral part of the book is actually a history of successive presidencies. Nielsen's book is non-sectarian, positive and critical, and leaves the subject of Obama's possible accomplishments and success open.

Understanding that nations which ignore their past live in a narrow time period, discounting the fact that what has gone before tells us much about what is going on now and what will happen in the future. Historically, religion - as both a positive and negative force - has influenced economics, international statecraft, as well as individual and social ethics. Comparing our current president with past presidents, from Washington through Bush, Nielsen wonders what they would say to each other as contemporaries. It is the main intention of the author to help bring objectivity and perspective to much debated issues offering guidance to evaluate what an ambitious new leader has done, and may do, in the longer setting of the history of his office.

Author Niels C. Nielsen.

At the beginning of each chapter the author uses a narrative and chronological approach to show both the similarities and the differences between our current president and one of his predecessors, then asks a number of hypothetical "what if" questions of many past great leaders in an attempt to see how history could have been dramatically changed by their answers.

Nielsen is the J. Newton Rayzor Professor of Philosophy and Religious Thought emeritus at Rice University in Houston, Texas. He is well-recognized for his earlier book, "The Religion of Jimmy Carter," also translated into German. Nielsen's "Religions of the World" is a widely used college and university textbook.

For more information go to www.presidentsreligionandethics.com.