In view of the apparent increasing lack of morality in business and public affairs that has brought
the United States and the world to the brink of economic collapse, the need to develop moral
intelligence in the general population is of growing concern. Developing moral intelligence in
the schools becomes problematic in a society that identifies morality with religion and believes
that religion should not be taught in schools. In the United States, as the more overtly Christian
influences in the schools were being banned because of First Amendment challenges, some
schools either ignored moral education or turned to more values-free approaches such as values
clarification and character education.