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245	1	0	_aThe Religious Foundations of Civil Society (Part 1)
520	3		_aThis article explore, from a Bahá'í perspective, the loss of a transcendent ethical basis as a central problem of modern social theory. It discusses religion as the source of society's moral foundations and its organizing principles of order, law, and governance. Through an analysis of John Locke's writings on religion and government, the foundations of the concept of civil society are traced to the idea of covenant as embedded in the natural law tradition. Civil society and theocracy are compared, and the implications of dissent and divisive conflict in a consent-based theory of religioous toleration are discussed. The article concludes with the collapse, in modernity, of the religious foundations, and the disintegration of the classical concept of, civil society.
690			_aCOVENANT
700	1		_aHeller, Wendy M
773			_tThe Journal of Bahá'í Studies _g10, 27-70
999			_c29476 _d29476