In spite of the diversity of the country and our best intentions, we do find ourselves in a community of folks that lean one particular way or another.  I have spent most of my adult life in the Northwest urban areas. As a consequence, it was easy to believe the folks who will say, when the topic turns to God, "I'm spiritual, not religious" were quite common.  As my recent years in the Mid-West and Gallup's newly released finding from their religious identity poll attest to, this is not really the case when we scan the contours of the American nation.  Gallup summarizes the findings this way:

This Christmas season, 78% of American adults identify with some form of Christian religion. Less than 2% are Jewish, less than 1% are Muslim, and 15% do not have a religious identity. This means that 95% of all Americans who have a religious identity are Christians.

There are a number of trends Gallup's poll on religion in American show, including while currently 81% of Americans say religion is very or fairly important in their lives, this is down from 95% in 1952, although it has been pretty consistent in the 80% range since the 70's.  There does seem however to be a slow but steady rise of those who say it isn't important.

Another poll in February found that

Americans have mixed views on the influence of organized religion in the U.S. today, with 29% saying religion should have more influence and an identical percentage saying it should have less influence. A slightly larger 39% believe organized religion's influence should be kept as it is now.

Yet shortly before that, another poll found that

Seven in 10 Americans say religion is losing its influence on American life -- one of the highest such responses in Gallup's 53-year history of asking this question, and significantly higher than in the first half of the past decade.

Of course, there is much diversity amongst those who identify with Christianity in this country - just from a denominational perspective alone.  But within each denomination there is wide spectrum of doctrine interpretation and beliefs.  The individuals within each community also differ in engagement, faith, and adherence to the doctrines.  To say that 78% of Americans are Christians on one level doesn't tell us much about these Americans.  The same goes for those who identify themselves as Jewish or Muslim or Buddhist or Atheist or agnostic.    

One Christian may believe religion should have less influence in the U.S., but sees its influence increasing, while another believes the influence should be greater while watching that influence being lost.

Yet a belief in a God (which 9 out of 10 Americans do) and an adherence to a formal doctrine regarding something beyond the material world influences every facet of one's world view or paradigm, including one's view of one's self.  When we speak of the American nation, we cannot ignore this profound influence, and any discussion about topics such as politics, the sciences, the arts, gender, race, or poverty need to, at some point, explore the underpinnings of religion and spirituality.

For instance:

Four in 10 Americans, slightly fewer today than in years past, believe God created humans in their present form about 10,000 years ago. Thirty-eight percent believe God guided a process by which humans developed over millions of years from less advanced life forms, while 16%, up slightly from years past, believe humans developed over millions of years, without God's involvement.

What relationship is there between one's view of the evolution-creation debate and one's view of the causes of and solutions to poverty?  There is no one-to-one correlation, with plenty of exceptions to the rules, if one finds any rules.  Things aren't that cut and dry as we all know.  But sometimes we confront views and understandings that don't make sense in light of the conclusions we have drawn - and it is quite possibly this frustration is born of conflict of much deeper views about the nature of the universe.

Lately it does seem we, as a nation, have become more and more fragmented, dividing ourselves into us and them, with those on the other side increasingly viewed as delusional or wicked or something like that.  It may be that there is no longer something that can be called the American Nation.  There are U.S. citizens, but no identity as a people.  The answer to the question why we (or Congress) can't seem to work together to solve our problems is that we no longer perceive identify with each other.

Some day in the distant future, everyone across the globe we see ourselves as one people, in it together, through thick and thin.  But for the time being just coming together in our local communities, overcoming the divisions of religion, race, class, gender and so on, is a big enough challenge.  To dream we are able to achieve this across the geographical vastness of this country is just about as pie-in-sky as one can get. Or at least it seems that way. 

We can come together easily enough against a common enemy or around the aftermath od some tragedy.  But these are transitory and external forces.  America has been an experiment in diversity and tolerance of others.  It has been a slow process, and we have a long way to go.  Most societies throughout the history of humankind have been able to maintain their sense of togetherness, of belonging, of shared identity through facets of commonality.  America, in some ways unconsciously and organically, has sought to maintain that identity without requiring any agreed upon commonality. 

Intolerance and demands to conformity are still the rules of the day, in one form or another.  Slowly, however, we continue to expand the openness and freedom of individual expression and being.  And as what it means to be American becomes more and more ambiguous, the fears and anxiety grow.  People turn to those who are more like themselves.  

During this time of Christmas (which 95% of us celebrate in one way or another), maybe we can take some time to ponder just who it is that is the "us" and who is the "them,"  and maybe open ourselves to expanding the "us" just a little.  Maybe we take a step closer to finding a way to sincerely work together.