Legitimacy and Morality

The changes are of many different kinds. In the religious realm, the role of the Lutheran folk church that formerly was very influential in many parts of society has changed. The differentiation of society in Modernity diminished the immediate significance of religion outside a narrow religious sphere. Today one can see an increasing interest in religion but this does not mean a return to the religious traditions of the past. Religion has become privatized. (RK Fenn (ed), The Blackwell Companion to the Sociology of Religion 2003) At the same time the Lutheran tradition in the Nordic countries has been joined by other religious movements and secular views of life of many kinds. This in turn influences the way morality is seen to function in the Nordic societies. The development is similar in other parts of Europe, although the religious starting point may be different. Public institutions and authorities play an ever diminishing role in the moral and religious life of individuals. (L Östnor, Etisk pluralisme i Norden 2001)