ABSTRACT
Confessions and absolutions offer an acquired but temporary immunity to the passage of time by requiring small revelations of the individual's past and symbolically clearing the way for an authorized future. The Protestant artisan does take time seriously; works punctually, gets results, and pays off his or her debts on time. This chapter suggests that it may be very difficult, regardless of the churches halfway measures, to develop a social character that is inured to and even welcomes the passage of time without romantic hopes for the future or dramatic gestures toward redeeming the past. To understand the social character necessary for the development of a secular society, then, it is necessary to grasp what it would mean to live without dreams of religious or, for that matter, any other kind of glory. Like the examination dream, rituals reveal how difficult it is for the psyche to take the test of time.
