 Rawls thinks that political liberalism extends freedom of religion to moral worldviews in general. Thus he hopes that an analogous path could lead to  the emergence of a well-ordered society. Individuals could first choose  principles of justice as compromises to persistent moral disagreements, and over  time come to endorse such principles for their own sake.  Respectful public  debate—what Rawls calls the use of “public reason” (1996, 213)—will aid the transformation (1996, 165–67).  Over time a society of many competing worldviews—or “reasonable comprehensive doctrines”—can come to an “overlapping consensus” on principles of justice governing the public sphere (1996, 134).  Other remarks suggest a different path to the same situation.  Here Rawls suggests that his theory is an immanent working out of ideas already “embedded in our public life” (1980, 307). This ideological connection to the present should at least facilitate the emergence of a more just society.  In this way, Rawls combines optimism and realism, rejecting the doctrine of progress but emphasizing the possibility of lasting improvement. 