from the more recent past. It is in the nature of rituals to flow from traditions, and traditions to reach back to the past. It is also in the nature of those honoring traditions to want to universalize their principles and rituals, first through persuasion and then through law. In other words, the new rituals, to some extent mimicking the old, will seek a legal standing. Rituals can be religious but presented as secular. Rules on the number of spouses permitted, the rights of property in a divorce, and the treatment of children are secularized impositions of moral values.
