http://www.billoreilly.com/column/Whither-Faith?pid=45376
A new study is comforting to some, downright alarming to others. Pew Research, the highly-respected polling outfit, questioned tens of thousands of Americans about their religious faith and affiliation. The most striking finding: Christianity is in a steep and secular decline, pardon the pun. Only about 70% of Americans now identify themselves as Christians, a drop of 8 percentage points from just seven years ago.
So, where did all those missing Christians go? They have not converted to Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, or any other religious "ism." No, they have basically dismissed religion altogether. The biggest increase in the survey was among Americans who describe themselves as atheist, agnostic, or "nothing in particular." Pew researchers characterized the trend as nothing less than "astounding."