The expulsion of at least 15,000 indigenous Mexicans from their lands and homes in the highlands of Chiapas is a text book illustration of this "complex brew." They were expelled when they accepted the Bible and refused to pay homage to what they saw as "idols" made by human hands -- the traditional village saints. In so doing, they challenged village leaders who were allied with Mexico's ruling political party. Were they being persecuted for their religious beliefs or for political reasons or, thirdly, for social reasons, in that they no longer accepted their traditional subservient roles? Whatever the exact cause, their expulsion continued for almost forty years and their cries for justice went unheard in Mexico and the United States as well.

As terrible as it is, there is a shortcoming in focusing on persecution alone. A narrow view of events in Chiapas may obscure the most significant lesson to be learned: the power of faith to sustain and enrich troubled individuals and to give purpose and direction to entire societies in their struggles for autonomy and cohesion.

There are two Indias: the caste and class elite who hold all power and make up 10 to 15 percent of the population, and everyone else. Averting the Apocalypse is about everyone else. Arthur Bonner, a former New York Times reporter with long experience as a foreign correspondent in Asia, conducted interviews over many months while traveling almost 20,000 miles within India seeking out the underclass and social activists who together are beginning to mobilize for social change at the bottom of Indian society. Working in areas torn by violence, Bonner offers a terrifyingly accurate portrait of a society bloodied by decades of unequal social structure and the absence of a civil society and political mechanism capable of responding to the exploitation of the poor and weak.
Bonner finds that India's inability or refusal to address its debilitating social structure may be the precursor to an apocalyptic social upheaval unless heed is paid to the social movements that his first-hand investigation reveals.