This whole discussion sort of reminds me of something Daniel Boorstin wrote, something to the effect of: "Most Americans are completely secure and sure about their way of life, but in fact have little understanding of the workings of their government."

Anyway...

The supposed decline in the American way of life (I guess that's what we're discussing) isn't something that can be measured materially, since, as was pointed out above, you can buy a Cherry Coke at 3 a.m. [I won't debate whether this is REALLY something to be proud of, though I have my suspicions otherwise ;-)]). The usual complaints one hears on this particular subject is a decline in "values," which is normally associated with Judeo-Christian values. There is a case to be made, I think, that the lack of an ingrained religious dogma among a large swath of the population causes a "moral decline" in that we no longer automatically agree on what "morality" is. Couple this with the general idea of "whatever I do is just a-okay" (which some people interpret to mean, "I am above criticism"), and you have a preset, automatic conflict.

The one thing religion did offer people was consequences (real or imagined is for you to decide). Somewhere along the line, though, we dispensed with many of those consequences, including shame. Some would say this has worked against us. Some would argue we didn't need it in the first place. Either way, I think we have to ask ourselves how to build the next moral compass. For without religion, our only commonality is our American heritage, and the laws under which we live. Commonality of ideals is nice, but seeing as how we often can't agree on what our laws truly mean, it might be nice if we could come together in some substantive way beyond our arguments. Otherwise, we have to wait 'til the next disastor or war before we realize we're not a nation of individuals, mentally jerking off to our own mantras, but a party of people in the same boat, ready to sink or swim.