“How glorious they look, how beautiful they become when they tie the turban on their head," says Surinder Singh, youth and education coordinator of the Sikh Foundation of Virginia.

This expression of Sufism, the mystical branch of Islam, "is creating an atmosphere to pray, and it’s an offering. I think it’s just a physical way of expressing this love for the divine, and in the whirling it becomes a mediation," says Manjula Kumar, a program manager at the Smithsonian Institution.

“The spirit of resilience is deep in the heart of the Sikh faith,” says Valarie Kaur, a Sikh woman from Auburn Seminary in New York. “Sikhs have died for their turbans, died for their faith, but drawn from their faith to rise up again and not be afraid.”

"We empower national Masai to do the ministry. I didn’t start any of these churches. I’m not the leader of any of these churches. But we’ve trained these people so that they could move out and do it," says Gary Woods, a missionary who has been preaching in Africa for 25 years.

Voodoo recognizes an invisible world of great spiritual power, according to Sallie Ann Glassman, a Voodoo priestess, community organizer, and founder of the New Orleans Healing Center.

When disaster strikes, the character of a culture is revealed, and in Japan, perceptions of disaster are deeply rooted in traditional religious culture.

Watch religion scholar Stephen Prothero, author of the new book "God Is Not One," discuss why all religions are not different paths to the same God and why distinctions among religions matter.

Read more of Bob Abernethy’s interview in Cambridge, Massachusetts with theologian and Harvard professor Harvey Cox.

Sunitha Mani is an Indian Hindu, born in America. Her mother calls her a modern girl. Even so, as she prepares for her marriage, she is going the traditional route, and then some.

The lectern in Lagos holds both Quran and Bible, and the worshippers say they are both Christian and Muslim.