New wine in old bottles, tolerance, law and religion in contemporary Europe

In the article the author deals with the ever greater significance of the religious factor on the political, cultural and social scenes of contemporary Europe - with the process of deprivatization of religion, followed by an increase of religious conflict, which indicates the possibility that the return of the sacred may also include the return of intolerance. The initial point of this process is the ideological void created by the marginalization of the Marxist viewpoint and the crisis of market liberalism which actualizes the interest for Christian social learning. In view of Huntington's hypothesis that the future brings the counterposition of civilizations (instead of political systems and blocs) which leads to a reconsideration of Christian faith as the primary element in the future confrontation with the Islam, the author discusses the model of state laicism (the dominant type of relationship between the state and religious communities in Western Europe). The process of deprivatization of faith questions the concept of laicism as the exclusive, or at least prevailing substance of the state and social structures.