End of Christian America?

Where's the smart money on this? Jon Meacham, whom Hunter Baker calls "the new Harvey Cox" (remembered for his book The Secular City), wrote a piece called "The End of Christian America" (Newsweek, April 4, 2009).

Hunter Baker, in "End Times for Christian America?" (Acton Commentary, May 13, 2009), responds by saying that "the meme will make for good newsprint," but is "severely premature."

“Christianity is important in America!” is no more a story than “dog bites man.” “The death of Christianity,” on the other hand, grabs eyeballs....

The wise observer will be more cautious. It was less than five years ago that Garry Wills, flustered by the re-election of George W. Bush, wrote histrionically for The New York Times about “The Day the Enlightenment Went Out.”

... The smart money is on Christianity to be around and relevant for as long as the American republic endures. The even smarter money says the faith will outlast the republic just as it did the empire into which it was born.

Well put.

[Hat tip to E.E.]