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For the first time, fewer than half of people in England and Wales describe themselves as Christian. For centuries in the West, Judeo-Christian values have underpinned moral reasoning and grounded our ethics. While ticking \\u201cno religion\\u201d on the census doesn\\u2019t necessarily mean having no religious belief, should it concern us that this central story of our culture is fragmenting?

Implicit in utilitarianism is the idea that we can do ethics without metaphysics. The Enlightenment hailed the triumph of scientific rationality over sacred revelation. Whereas, the French sociologist Emile Durkheim argued that in any society in a state of \\u2018anomie\\u2019 \\u2013 that is, lacking a shared moral code \\u2013 there would be a rise in suicide.

Secularists argue that the greatest examples of social progress of the last century have come about as a result of a loss of deference to religious moral authority. Religious leaders believe that it is precisely this moral authority that makes a society cohesive. Others think it doesn\\u2019t matter where you get your moral guide from as long as you\\u2019re looking for it.

We live in an era of rapid social change, facing a new technological revolution, and all the ethical questions it poses. Does a religious-based ethics have the answers?

Can ethics survive the death of religion?

Producer: Dan Tierney.