The morality of the ascending Republican majority focused on individual conduct. Access to abortion and ease of divorce were viewed as byproducts of an individual's decision to rank personal needs over such principles as the sanctity of life or the durability of the marriage bond. President Clinton's sexual escapades, and his brazen dishonesty when questioned about them, seemed to symbolize a society in which self-restraint was anachronistic and personal honor lost. Although the recent elections turned on issues of security, President Bush was able to portray himself as a man of sufficient moral depth to label evil as evil and to demonstrate his resolve to confront terrorism at its source.

Matters concerning morality are unlikely to be so clear now that Republicans are in power. This is not because they can no longer blame Democrats for the low state of our moral condition, nor because they will have to develop some positive programs to deal with unease over abortion or the feeling that we no longer appreciate religious faith. The more important challenge consists in the fact that not all moral questions deal with individual conduct. Whether originating in religion or philosophy, the great moral questions in the West have paid far less attention to personal wrongdoing and far more to issues of war and peace, or the possibility of justice.

"Based on the facts that are known to us, we continue to find it difficult to justify the resort to war against Iraq, lacking clear and adequate evidence of an imminent attack of a grave nature," stated the U.S. Conference on Catholic Bishops on Nov. 13. The bishops left open the possibility that American actions could prove to be compatible with Catholic just war principles; if President Bush continues to consult with the United Nations and build an international coalition, he need not worry that his actions will turn American Catholics against him. Still, it is significant that Catholic bishops, who seem confused and uncertain when it comes to the morality of sexual abuse and cover-up, speak with one voice on the immorality of pre-emptive war.

Catholics may not be America's only religious group made uncomfortable if the president eventually opts to wage war without just cause. During the Vietnam period, Jews tended to oppose the war and evangelical Protestants to support it. That pattern could reverse itself in Iraq. Jews, worried about Israel's survival, can be found among the war's strongest supporters. And evangelicals are no longer the Bible-thumping, pro-war zealots of the liberal imagination; throughout evangelical colleges and seminaries in the U.S., Jesus' injunction to turn the other cheek is widely cited and nervousness about American intervention pronounced.

The quest for justice is as murky as the search for peace, but it does not require an Immanuel Kant to recognize that Jack Grubman's efforts to use his connections to win admission to a preschool for his children violates just about every standard of justice to which Americans have adhered. In so doing, his actions raise another issue of moral concern that Republicans may find hard to manage. Americans have long accepted the principle that for a society to be just, it need not be egalitarian, one reason why a tax cut does not arouse shrieks of indignation. But Americans do believe that everyone should have an equal chance to succeed should they possess the energy and determination to do so. The more examples of favoritism and insider-trading that hit the news, the greater becomes the challenge of convincing Americans that, morally speaking, all is right with the world.

As with Iraq, the Bush administration can take steps to avoid positioning itself on the wrong side of a moral issue by repudiating those who abuse principles of fairness. So far, however, the president has shown little inclination to play that role. If he continues to preside over the return of gilded-age politics to America, he may find himself facing a religious revival, this one directed not at the conditions of personal salvation, but at the need for social justice.

America has become a better country because we no longer sweep moral issues under the rug. But once we start talking about whether homosexuality is a sin, we cannot stop because the discussion shifts to whether violence is justified or human potential wasted. Now that the Republicans control all branches of government, Americans of all political persuasions can look forward to some of the most serious and sustained discussions of morality we have ever had.

Mr. Wolfe is director of the Boisi Center for Religion and American Public Life at Boston College and the author of "Moral Freedom" (W.W. Norton, 2001).