Globally, there might be good reasons to talk about what sociologists describe as the rise of “post-secular societies,” but Europe remains the exception. What really explains these new public controversies surrounding religion is something else, something political: the dilemma in which right-wing and center-right European parties find themselves.
简言之，这里存在着某种模式。但我想说的并不是欧洲各国民众正在变得越来越宗教化——在这方面几乎找不到任何证据。如果从全世界范围看，我们可能有理由谈论社会学家所谓的“后世俗社会”的崛起，但欧洲却仍然是个例外。真正能解释这些围绕宗教新出现公众争议的是某些与政治有关的其他因素：那就是右翼和中左翼欧洲政党所处的两难境地。