Just because we Americans are drifting toward the back pews into a broader, mellower agnosticism and deism, with a concomitant increased proportion of actual nontheists, atheists and antithiests doesn’t necessarily bring us to the opposite conclusion that the polity will suddenly revel in epiphanous frissons of apostasy and apognosis.
Witness the broadening reach of Buddhism, particularly Zen & Theravada. Buddhism isn’t just for the avante-liberal and groovy peaceniks...
Swallow a dictionary last night, by any chance?
I’m not claiming that atheism will come to dominate the US as Christianity does today, I was simply pointing out how ridiculous O’Leary’s claim is that atheism is somehow in its last throes. The evidence point to the opposite being true.
I agree that nature abhors a vacuum and other religious traditions, and wholly new ones, will more likely fill any void a decline in Christianity leaves behind. (BTW: Despite the hysteria from some on this board, Islam hasn’t got a chance of becoming a major religion in the US.)
In the long run (over decades), I see the landscape of American belief becoming more like the one you see in other Western Nations. There will still be a majority of nominal Christians (those who believe but don’t practice), a large minority of non-believers, and then a hodgepodge of other faiths, including many who would consider themselves “spiritual” without adhering to any particular religion.