The controversy has been characterized as pitting civic duty against individual conscience——onecherished American value against another. Recently, thebattle lines were drawn over the removal of a sculptureinscribed with the ten commandments from a government building, a municipal courthouse. Meanwhile, middle America charges thatoversensitivity and political correctness govern manydecisions on religious matters. In another highlypublicized case, town officials argued that decoratinga fir tree standing in a public space in December didnot necessarily constitute an endorsement ofChristianity. They lost. The Christmas tree camedown.
What isnt in dispute is that 90 percent of Americans express somereligious affiliation and approximately 70 percent claim to practice their faithactively. Religion has always been a voluntary activity in the U.S.A., so thosewho practice their faith do so by choice, as a matter of individual conscience.This may account for the high degree of observance , the depthof fundamentalism, and the wide variety of religions. With about 190 activereligious sects, religion in the United States is a buyers market with some 33million congregants claiming to have jumped ship to a different denomination .
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