"I don't know that atheists should be considered as citizens, nor should they be considered patriots. This is one nation under God." - Vice President, George H. W. Bush, 1987
"Americans practice different faiths in churches, synagogues, mosques and temples. And many good people practice no faith at all." - President George W. Bush, 2002
A comparison of the above quotes reflects an analogous shift in American religious identities and attitudes towards a more diversity as well as a growth of the non-believing segment of the population.
Take heart, several major demographic trends are on our side, especially when it comes to undermining the Republican 'values' voter block.
First, gradually, less and less Americans regularly attend church services. Now most of this loss of church attendance has occurred in the mainline protestant denominations as well as Catholics. On a lesser scale, even the industrial evangelical warehouse churches are also beginning to 'top off'.
This shift was documented by the 2001 American Religious Identification Survey. The proportion of the population that can be classified as Christian has declined from eighty-six in 1990 to seventy-seven percent in 2001; (Note: this was a self-description survey as opposed to the self-serving inflated numbers various churches cook their books with to impress their membership.) Additionally, the number of adults who classify themselves in non-Christian religious groups has increased from about 5.8 million to about 7.7 million, from 3.3 % to about 3.7 %. (Negligible but still an increase). The study also shows that younger adults are more likely to identify with secularism than older adults.
http://www.gc.cuny.edu/studies/key_findings.htm
This great news because as we've heard the talking heads yap about ad nausea, church attendance is directly related to voting patterns.
It is my opinion that most mainstream American religions are based on a consumer culture model. Churches offer a competing `product' to attract and maintain members who in turn donate the ever precious tithes that keep the priest class fat. It is survival of the fittest. Consequently, the priest class must always conform its product to the desires of the consumers. I predict as more and more people grow to accept issues such gay civil rights, more and more religions will alter their dogmas to maintain and attract those who hold these burgeoning attitudes. Increased social mobility at access to an ever more diverse array of religions only speeds up this process.
The bad news is that these trends are tectonic and won't be a major talking point in punditry land for several elections cycles to come. However, at least the shift is moving in the right (er, left) direction.