The good news? 92% of Americans claim a belief in a diety greater than themselves.

On the other hand, Californians are markedly different than the rest of the nation:

But California, like other states along the country’s two coasts, resisted the prevailing national tendencies.

Californians are less likely than other Americans to consider religion “very important” in their lives or to be “absolutely certain” in their belief in God.

Californians pray less than others in many parts of the country. They are less inclined to take the word of God literally. And they are ready to embrace “more than one true way” of interpreting their religious teachings.

This isn’t neccessarily bad news, however. It just means that in California we have to approach conversations in a different way. It also means we must be much more honest and transparent about our own Christian living. The forces us to actually live out what Jesus lived out.

I’m convinced that when we do that, our most devoted disciples will be those who once thought they would never claim religion to be “very important” in their day-today lives.