Revisiting Time's notorious 1966 cover querying, "Is God Dead?", Newsweek's cover story Aug. 29-Sept. 5 is "Spirituality in America." The article answers the aging existential question with a resounding ‘no.' But what makes this article interesting is both the secular perspective of American religion and the lumping together of all things spiritual.

The summation of the story that covers everything from Catholicism to Wicca ends with this injunction: "So let us say together: Hallelujah! Praise the Lord! Sh'ma Yisrael. Allahu Akbar. Om. And store up the light against the darkness."

The postmodern idea that God's presence may be chosen from among a myriad of offerings on a spiritual buffet and whatever experience is right for an individual must be good is increasingly American.

Rebecca Barnes, editor

Religious scholars Hector Avalos, associate professor of religious studies at Iowa State University; author of Fighting Words: The Origins Of Religious Violence, and Charles Kimball, professor of religion at Wake Forest University; author of When Religion Becomes Evil, gave a nod to the Newsweek piece during their conversation Aug. 22 on NPR's Talk of the Nation.

Their subject was religious violence and the theology that leads to it. Kimball cited the finding of the Newsweek survey that indicated only 12 percent of Americans believe their religion hold the only key to eternal life as a disproof of Avalos' thesis that scarcity breeds religious violence.

Obviously that statistic is very American. Christians and Muslims dying for their faith in Nigeria, the Middle East and elsewhere probably wouldn't be willing to die if they believed there were more than one right religion.

But the survey question Newsweek posed to some 1,000 Americans may have been slightly flawed as it asked evangelical Christians, non-evangelical Christians, Catholics and non-Christians "can a good person who isn't of your religious faith go to heaven or attain salvation, or not?" 

As I attempted to answer I found myself also leaning toward a ‘yes'—the same answer the majority of those surveyed gave, just because I didn't feel I should exclude Catholics and non-evangelicals from salvation. Salvation is found in Christ and Christ is found in Catholic and non-evangelical churches. Clearly the question was seeking to understand whether Christians believe Christ is the only way, not whether a particular Christian faith is the only way, but I think it may have been clearer.

I do think it is accurate to assess the current religious climate in America as increasingly tolerant, however. But I think that tolerance is owing to the increasing ignorance of Americans toward both their own religious faith and that of others.

Only 2 percent of those surveyed by Beliefnet in the Newsweek poll indicated they personally felt most connected to God when reading a sacred text. Not only do Americans not know their Bible, they don't know their Koran, their Torah or their Bhagavad Gita. And they are certainly not seeking God therein.

Americans may be praying (64 percent every day) and worshipping (43 percent reportedly attend a service once a week or more), but only 20 percent report reading a sacred text every day (36 percent more read texts monthly or weekly.) That's a lot of non-communcation or one-way communication. And as Rick Warren would say, "It's not about you."