Recent research apparently shows that between 69 and 94 per cent of young American Christians ‘forsake their faith’ after leaving high school, while another study found that 88 per cent of youth leave the church in adulthood. (Christian Post as quoted in Australian Prayer Network International News, 17 Apr. 2006)

These figures reflect statistics circulated for several years by conservative pollster George Barna and cast strong doubt on assertions that the USA is a nation of churchgoers. The process of secularisation is extremely corrosive in its effect on religious observance in all developed countries, with America as the last, lingering holdout.

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