Religion and a moral compass which serves as a guide to believers . Mainstream religion remain important and , although establishment Christianity is in decline in Western democracies , it is growing in Latin America and Africa and remains influential in global , political and social issues Explaining the resurgence of religion A number of sociologists have explained the ice of religion in terms of the conditions of late modernity THE SEARCH FOR MORAL GUIDANCE A recurrent theme is that religion offers a solution to the moral uncertainties of contemporary existence.Bauman argues that modernity tried to put ethical problems on one side. Ethical problems were reduced to, or replaced by, rules or laws. People ere encouraged to behave in particular ways because the rules (for example, of bureaucracies) or laws of society said they should. The rules and laws were justified on rational grounds as providing the best means for achieving given ends. Bauman says Modernity was, among other things, a gigantic exercise in abolishing individual responsibility other than that measured by the criteria of instrumental rationality and practical achievement (1992, p. xxii). However, oncepostmodernity has torn away the belief that there can be a rational basis for perfecting society, it leaves individuals with no external rules to govern their lives. This leads to a renewed emphasis on the ethical and the moral, but now it is personal ethics and morality that are important. With a multitude of choices available, and with individuals responsible for their own morality, people turn to experts in morality-religious leaders-for some guidance. The a of religion therefore lies in the 'increased sens attractiveness of agencies claiming expertise in moral values' (992, pp. 202-3). TH similar argument is put forward by Anthony Gill Giddens. He writes: n high modernity' certainty is undermined; doubt is ; everything, including science itself, seems open to revision. Consequently many individuals experi-abo the world as bereft of the all-encompassing traditions eve and certainties that sustained earlier generations. We are increasingly thrown back on ourselves, on our own stbec-zive choices to deal with doubt, uncertainty, stress, frag- psmentation and the threat of meaninglessness characteristic cri of high modernity. In many ways the religiosity of the post- war generation . . . can be understood as a response to these perils. (1991a, p.254