Generally, the religious right blames all of America's ills on lack of faith. They claim that everything "wrong" with America is because we are turning away from God and teaching our children horrendous things, like evolution.
Well, that may not be true. In fact, it may be American's devout religious beliefs that are actually causing the problems.
According to a very interesting piece published in the Jouranl of Religion and Society, the belief in, and worship of God are not only unnecessary for a healthy society, but may actually contribute to societal problems.
The study is reported on here:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-1798944,00.html
According to the article, higher rates of belief in and worship of a creator correlate with higher rates of homicide, jurenile and early adult mortality, STD infection rates, teen pregnancy and abortion in prosperous democracies.
The study found that large disparties between the US as compared to other, more Secular democracies such as France, Japan and Scandinavian countries, all of which had reduced their rates of murder, sexually transmitted diseases, etc.
The money quote:
"The non-religious, pro-evolution democracies contradict the dictum that a soceity cannot enjoy good conditions unless most citizens ardently believe in a moral creator. The widely held fear that a Godless citizenry must experience societal disaster is therefore refuted."
Of course, one theory as to why "godless" societies do better in reducing "moral problems" may be that once you give up the idea that religion solves societal ills you can focus on actually solving societal ills.
For example, we all know that teaching religion and abstinence only will not stop teenagers from having sex and getting STDs. Teenage sex also leads to abortions and teen pregnancies.
Sex education, however, does prevent, teenage sex, STDs, abortions and teen pregnancies. If the bible thumpers would put down their bibles and actually deal with the problems, then we may actually decrease societal ills.