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This particular survey reviews religious trends that have occurred between the period 1990-2008. This 18-year period provides an excellence examination of recent shifts in religiosity. Moreover, the source will provide a background from which to infer future trends in secularization, in addition to determining its implications on scientific literacy.

The article addresses the idea of "religious illiteracy" in the United States as of early 2007. The author relates the lack of general religious knowledge among his students at Boston University. He believes that religious illiteracy is more dangerous than cultural illiteracy because religion is the "most volatile" constituent of culture. He notes that some knowledge of the world's religions is essential in processing messages from politicians, the media, and education. He believes that, in the interest of civics, all U.S. undergraduate students should be required to take an academic religious studies course. He also acknowledges that religious literacy in the U.S. requires compromise between the secular left and the religious right. (Abstract from EBSCO.)