In their 1985 bestseller, "Habits of the Heart," sociologist Robert Bellah and
his coauthors introduced America to a peculiar new religion: "Sheilaism." Its
founder, Sheila Larson, was a young nurse who had concluded after many rounds
of psychotherapy that she believed in God, but not the God of organized
religion. Instead, her deity was virtually synonymous with herself and he
demanded little more than that she love herself and "listen to my own little
voice." Marveling at this radically individualistic faith, Bellah concluded
that there could be potentially millions of Sheilas in America, each following
his own invented belief system that "elevate[s] the self into a cosmic
principle."

The recently released results of the 2008 American Religious Identification
Survey suggest Bellah was right. The survey found that while most Americans
today identify as Christians, the proportion of Christians has dropped by 10
percentage points since 1990. The only religious group that has seen population
increases in every state is the "nones": a category of atheists, agnostics and
spiritual freelancers like Sheila that now includes 15 percent of Americans, up
from 8 percent in 1990.

While these "nones" are gaining ground, Christians who label themselves as
"non-denominational" or "evangelical" also are multiplying. Catholics have seen
their overall numbers rise and they remain the nation's largest religious
group, accounting for one in every four Americans. Meanwhile, continuing
population losses in mainline Protestantism are the main cause of American
Christianity's numerical decline.

So what does all of this mean for American public life? For starters, the
numbers suggest that Americans increasingly are gravitating to one of two
religious poles: Either they are becoming more committed to churches that make
strong moral and religious demands or they are rejecting religion altogether.

That trend is not new. A 2000 Glenmary Research Center study found that
America's fastest-growing congregations between 1990 and 2000 were socially
conservative churches that demanded high commitment from their members, while
socially liberal churches were hemorrhaging members at the fastest rate. In a
culture drifting toward European-style secularism and socialism, it seems, a
clearly defined faith that requires accountability to strict moral and
religious norms appeals more than a culturally accommodating, anything-goes
faith that is difficult to distinguish from mere Sheilaism.

The implications of this trend extend beyond religion. Just as more Americans
are moving toward stronger religious observance or none at all, a related
divide is widening between Americans who fear the growth of government as a
threat to religious liberty and those who welcome it as a means of secular
salvation. It's no coincidence that we are witnessing an unprecedented
expansion of government at the same time that more Americans are disengaging
from the faith traditions and communities that provided social, spiritual and
economic support for the generations before them. Nor is it surprising that the
president driving this expansion inspires religious fervor bordering on
idolatry among many of his followers, particularly those with no religious
affiliation. The human yearning for adoration of some higher power — be it God,
government or Barack Obama — dies hard.

It will be interesting to see how America's economic woes reshape our religious
landscape in the next decade. Some pastors and rabbis already have reported
growing attendance at worship services, as more spiritual freelancers discover
the virtues of a supportive faith community and the folly of investing your
faith in stock options and self-actualization mantras that offer cold comfort
when you're holding a pink slip. Whether more freelancers return to the fold
may depend on Obama's success in fashioning a government that assumes the
morally authoritative, culturally influential role that American politicians
once had to share with faith communities, but now covet all for themselves.

Colleen Carroll Campbell is an author, television and radio host and St.
Louis-based fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center. Her website is
www.colleen-campbell.com.