Secularization and the Sources of Morality： Religion and Morality in Contemporary Europe

Chapter5SecularizationandtheSourcesofMorality:ReligionandMoralityinContemporaryEuropeLoekHalmanandErikvanIngen5.1IntroductionForalongtimeinhistory,areligious“Weltanschauungdominatedpeopleslives.Godwasthecentralpointofreferencetounderstandandinterpretthenaturalandsocialorder,humanconsciousness,andpeoplesmoralconcerns.Publicorcivicbehaviorwastoalargeextentdeterminedandrestrictedbyreligionandofte...