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This volume brings together leading scholars to examine how the Church has brought its values into the political sphere and, in the process, alienated some of the younger generation. Since the disintegration of the communist one-party state at the end of the 1980s, the Catholic Church has pushed its agenda to ban abortion, introduce religious instruction in the state schools, and protect Poland from secular influences emanating from the European Union. As one of the consequences, Polish society has become polarized along religious lines, with conservative forces such as Fr. Rydzyk's Radio Maryja seeking to counter the influence of the European Union and liberals on the left trying to protect secular values. This volume casts a wide net in topics, with chapters on Pope John Paul II, Radio Maryja, religious education, the Church's campaign against what it calls "genderism," and the privatization of religious belief, among other topics

When religion is converted in an integral part of modern political debates, religious ideas influence the decisions and definitions of concepts such as education, the participation in the labor market, the structure and function of the family as a social unit, and the equality. Integration and immigration come to the forefront as the concept of citizenship acquires culturalist and moralizing dimensions. Finally, religion, politics and education begin to interfere in the areas of life that belong to the private and public spheres. From our pedagogical perspective we understand that the educational lines marked by religion influence remarkably the future of many citizens, and attach themselves to the socialpolitical realm. We thus become aware of the fact that religion as a powerful instrument of socialization exerts a strong influence upon citizens' education and values, and presents itself as the – normally hidden – social curriculum of the context closer to many citizens. The presence of Islam and of Muslims in Europe, though not a new phenomenon, is questioned by the nation-states, confronting the official curriculum and the regulated education, with the social curriculum, strongly influenced by Islam among its followers. It therefore converts itself in an integral part of the struggle for individual and collective national identity, be it with respect to laity, to democracy or to citizenship. And, in this sense, we would like to present an up-to-date review of this question so present in Europe today.

"The history of relations between the church and political authorities have shaped remarkable differences in the influence of religion on values of population in Poland, Hungary and Czecho-Slovakia. The differences in religious involvement, both on the level of personal beliefs and institutionalized behavior, among the countries in Central-Eastern European region are quite large. In Poland the Value Survey of 1990 revealed a level of religious beliefs and practice as high as in Ireland. An obvious explanation for this similarity is that in both Poland and Ireland 'Catholicism as the dominant religion has come to serve as the symbol and guardian of the nation in times threat or domination from external sources' (Martin 1978: A General Theory of Secularization). In Hungary and the Czech Republik levels of church attendance and personal religiosity are low, rivaling the rates in several West European countries, such as France, Netherlands and Scandinavia. The impact of industrialization and urbanization, combined with the hostility of the communist regimes toward religion, resulted in a high degree of secularization among Hungarians and Czechs. This paper explores several dimensions of religious values, beliefs, attitudes and practice of Poles, Czechs and Slovacs in 1990, based on results of the EVSSG survey. It analyzes the interrelationship between such aspects of religious values and behavior as - on one hand - church attendance, institutional attachment, adherence to traditionel beliefs, confidence in the church, support for a public role of the church, and on the other hand - 'intrinsic' forms of religiosity: identifying oneself as a religious person, the importance of God in one's life, and getting comfort and strength from religion. Hypotheses dealing with the connection between religion and morality, would predict that secularization processes and a diminshing influence of the church would give rise to relativistic moral attitudes, moral permissiveness and tolerance toward different groups. The results suggest that some modification of these hypotheses on the basis of the different historical experience in this region is needed. The relationship between religious and political attitudes and behavior is particulary important in the analyzed countries, taking into account the atheistic policy of the communist regimes and the recent collapse of these regimes. These changes and the impact of socio-demographic factors, such as age, education and place of residence, though also somewhat different, allow us to predict that similar trend toward secularization and individualization will occur as have been observed in Western Europe." (Autorenreferat)

This project is the Swiss sub-study of the World Values ​​Survey, which was conducted in at least 50 other countries in 2005-2007. It is a representative survey of the social, economic and political value orientations of the adult resident population in Switzerland. The survey continues the previous waves of the World Values ​​Survey conducted in Switzerland in 1989 and 1996. Three sub-questions are at the center of the project: trends in the transformation of values ​​in Switzerland, the specificity of the change in values ​​in Switzerland compared to other countries and the political consequences of the change in values ​​in Switzerland.

"This book furthers dialogue on the separation of church and state with an approach that emphasizes intellectual history and the constitutional theory that underlies American society. Mark Douglas McGarvie explains that the founding fathers of America considered the right of conscience to be an individual right, to be protected against governmental interference. While the religion clauses enunciated this right, its true protection occurred in the creation of separate public and private spheres. Religion and the churches were placed in the private sector. Yet, politically active Christians have intermittently mounted challenges to this bifurcation in calling for a greater public role for Christian faith and morality in American society. Both students and scholars will learn much from this intellectual history of law and religion that contextualizes a four-hundred-year-old ideological struggle"--

Chapter 1. Introduction -- Part I: Basic Research -- Chapter 2. Values: A Contested Concept. Problem Outline and Interdisciplinary Approaches -- Chapter 3. A Critical History of the Use of 'European Values' -- Chapter 4. Transformations in the Religious and Moral Landscape in Europe? -- Part II: In-Depth Analysis -- Chapter 5. Political Values and Religion: A Comparison Between Western and Eastern Europe -- Chapter 6. Religion, Values and Politics: The Effect of Religiosity on Attitudes towards Immigrants and Muslims -- Chapter 7. Solidarity: A European Value? -- Chapter 8. The Invisibles: Religious and Political Values Among Different Social Classes -- Part III : Interdisciplinary Perspectives -- Chapter 9. Ethical and Theological Approaches to the Value Discourses in Europe -- Chapter 10. Values and Economy: How Companies Deal With Values -- Chapter 11. Values and Laws -- Part IV: Future Prospects -- Chapter 12. Perceptions of Social Challenges in Europe. Disentangling the Effects of Context, Social Structure, Religion, Values and Political Attitudes to Identify Potential Drivers of Societal Change -- Chapter 13. Values Education, Politics and Religion -- Chapter 14. Conclusions, Consequences, Challenges.

Whether religious and other voluntary associations should reflect public values is a subject of controversy. Corey Brettschneider argues that the state should assert its own values of free and equal citizenship, deliberately attempting to transform the beliefs of illiberal groups through court decisions and through selective withdrawal of tax exemptions. I argue, however, that as long as individuals and groups comply with the law, it is not the business of the state to change their beliefs. Moreover, public authority itself does not always exemplify his preferred values. Second, although I oppose direct funding for organizations that oppose public values, determining which organizations espouse the "right" values accords too much power to public authority. Moreover, many associations evolve over time. Finally, the true threat lies in practices that voluntary associations may seek to impose on the larger community.