RELIGION REEMERGING - THE ROLE OF RELIGION IN LEGITIMATING INTEGRATION AND POWER IN MODERN SOCIETIES

Religion has re-emerged on the worldwide political arena. This should not be written off as a temporary reaction against a necessary process of modernization. An advanced industrial society does not require rel igion to be separated from politics. The borderline between religion a nd politics is fluid and constantly contested. Even absolutist regimes in modern societies have sought legitimacy through religion. Today, r eligion mainly re-emerges voicing a moral protest against political el ites who are seen as corrupt and immoral. Such a protest may refer to ethical standards from the Fast However, a religious protest does not necessarily try to re-establish the old social structures. The functio nal logic of secularization can be regarded as an ideology which suppo rts a specific Fewer structure, and which tries to insulate a politica l elite from a moral critique.