Over at Creedal Christian, Bryan Owen has a link to a very provocative essay by David Brooks that appeared in the March 2003 number of the Atlantic. "Kicking the Secularist Habit" acknowledges Brooks' guilt in not taking religion seriously enough, an occupational hazard of journalists throughout North America and western Europe. Brooks outlines a six-step program for overcoming this disorder. I reproduce Bryan's summary of the steps below, but the whole article is well worth a read.

1. Accepting the fact that, as a Westerner, you are not the norm.
2. Confronting fear.
3. Getting angry.
4. Resisting the impulse to find a materialistic explanation for everything.
5. Acknowledging that you've been too easy on religion.
6. Understanding that this country (the USA) has never been very secular.