A return of religion in Europe?

"When the end of ideology was celebrated – first in the 1950's and then, more emphatically still, in the 1990's – no one foresaw that religion, the bane of politics in the first half of the twentieth century, would return to that role with a vengeance", notes the German sociologist Ralf Dahrendorf, in an article published by the organisation Project Syndicate. "Why has religion returned to secular and democratic politics ? The main reason is probably that the enlightened countries of the world have become unsure of their values, even of the Enlightenment itself. A moral relativism has spread, leading many to accept the taboos of all religious groups in the name of tolerance and multiculturalism. ... The return of religion to politics – and to public life in general – is a serious challenge to the rule of democratically enacted law and the civil liberties that go with it. The response by enlightened communities is therefore important."

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