Recently, my work on mundaneastrology.net and on my upcoming book 1648 (sorry to plug at your expense, but guerrilla marketing must prevail!), I have thought much about morality, not the thought of dying, but who provides our moral structure. I speak not here simply of your everyday “though shalt not steal” kind of stuff, though these morals obviously still matter. What I speak of here are of the trickle down variety. Who provides our overall moral guidance? Who should we listen and why? This simple question has many ramifications.
The Church mostly lost is authority on the basis of its overtly corrupt practices. It is doubtful that such an overburdened institution–the Church had become with every aspect of life throughout every class–would have been able to keep up with the demographic changes that Europe rolled out through the 16th to 19th centuries. Nonetheless, the Church’s obvious hypocrisy opened the door for Luther to enter and for Protestants to rush in. Very apparent question arises here. Since the Church, the self-proclaimed arbiter of behavior, could not be trusted, when did the lack of trust began? Did it occur evenly across the classes? (Doubtful). Who won the authority over your morality? Catholics? Protestants? Christians? Did anyone win?
All of these questions become prominent when you consider these questions for people that have great influence on society. Who provides the moral center for our representatives? Who decides it is morally ok to move to Montana, overburden their infrastructure and contribute far less to the economy than you take away? Who provides the morality that ignores global warming? The one that says Wal-Mart is OK? The one that says being loyal to your oil buddies is worth all of the lives sacrificed to your cause?

I think in our shift to a more secular viewpoint, who determines our moral structure has never been addressed. The Church rejects secularism so it has little authority to answer related issues. Protestants too obviously have trouble reconciling their faith and the post-modern world. Governments should govern, but expect a certain level of adherence to social code. Very few concerns prove black and white anymore. For instance, what is the the moral code for projects that have down-the-line-effects? Is it morally righteous to invest in a project that could damage the environment long after you are dead?