According to the Pew Forum's recent study, while the overall level of Americans' religiosity is not falling, the rate at which Americans switch from one religious identifier to another is increasing. In other words, there is a competitive free market in American religious affiliation.
Anyone interested in learning more about the anti-institutional, democratic, and market-like history of American Protestantism should take a look at one or all of the following:
Nathan Hatch, The Democratization of American Christianity
The truth borne out in the Pew survey is that religion, notably those of Christian faith, is alive and well in America. It may be a ‘marketplace’, but its hold is no less convincing.
Cold comfort actually: to know that the place "religion" holds in America is every bit as strong and stable as Walmart's position in retail.
