DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY, FACULTY OF ARTS, CONSTANTINE THE PHILOSOPHER UNIVERSITY IN NITRA

This paper discusses some of the major changes in the present-day society, which is in a very difficult economic, social and cultural situation, full of different measures and restrictions. The question who the present belongs to is raised. Paul Elie, in his commentary for the New Yorker, notes the dynamics of the crowd, which embodies the reaction to the accumulated problems of the present – protests against oppression, restrictions, racism, rising unemployment, rising insecurity (people live from one episode to another episode, as stated by Bauman). European society, once built on Christianity, is changing dramatically. Traditional values that have been providing a sort of secure background for a very long period of history, are gradually emptying. Politicians declare their commitment to Enlightenment values and liberal democracy. The gradual secularization of Western countries and the spread of communist atheism transformed the perception of traditional values. The Christian faith becomes an individual matter, not a matter of society as a whole. In the name of freedom, Christianity is publicly despised. Religion becomes a kind of private lifestyle. Success, money and power come to the fore. It seems that the prototype of (post)modern man is a secular humanist. In the paper we analyse the transformation of modern and postmodern society mainly through the ideas of Merton, Bell and Latour. We present the conclusions from the research of the Pew Research Center conducted in the years 2015 – 2017 entitled Eastern and Western Europeans Differ on Importance of Religion, Views of Minorities, and Key Social Issues, which relate to the perception of one‘s culture as superior to other cultures and understanding religion as a component of one‘s national identity.crowd power, rebellion, criticism, religion, faith, human rights, postmodern society

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