"According to Marsilius [in his 14th century tract, Defenser Pacis] it is the state and not the church that guarantees the civil peace, and reason, not revelation, to which appeal must be made in all matters of temporal jurisdiction." (The West and the Rest: Globalization and the Terrorist Threat, Roger Scruton, 2002; page 4).
If we ask the question why has reason been weakening along with the weakening of the mainstream religions, the answer is because the mainstream religions had made their accommodations with the state; the fringe spiritual movements had not. So if the states weaken, the mainstream religions weaken along with them while the fringe spiritual movements, having not made their accommodations with the state, are not drawn down by the weakening of the state.
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