The radical secularization of moral space

This chapter attempts to develop an understanding of the moral conditions of secular society by tracing its history. The social impact of the secularization process only really became visible in the 1960s. After the earlier separation of church and state, religion in the West also pulled back on a societal level. Historically and culturally that is quite a unique situation, about which the last word has not yet been said. Many churches emptied, but attention to religion is everywhere. Is this because of Islam? How should we relate to religion and its new visibility? The chapter considers secularization since the 1960s as a large-scale field experiment with morality.