American Phenomenon??

How true that is. It reminds me of a telephone call my wife once had while working in sales. I was stationed in Texas at the time, serving in the Army. My wife was working in sales and service at the time, and would often have small conversations with the people on the phone while dealing with such sales. For a little context, my wife is a fairly devout christian, while I am an athiest. We have different views on religion, but it provides no conflict in our lives. Anyways, one day she was talking with a lady on the phone who was obviously a woman of deep faith. She enjoyed talking with my wife, and they briefly had a chat about each others family. Anyways, somehow religion came up, and my wife mentioned I was an athiest. Well, the woman suddenly began to preach to my wife, telling her she must immediatly reconsider her marraige to me!!!! She went on that by being married to me, my wife was endangering her immortal soul (the implied idea is that I am already lost, damned, beyond redemption, evil, and a corrupting force. : ) . My wife was shocked and didn't know how to respond. This woman went on for a minute or so before she had enough and just hung up on the woman. She was so ticked that she told me all about it as soon as she got home. It made me angry, but then I got over it, since what do I care what anyone other than my wife and I think about our marraige. However, it did demonstrate to me how hostile people could be towards atheists for no appearant reason other than their lack of belief in a god of some sort.

It has been my experience in high school and college that there are many non-praciters of faith. However, most will still describe themselves as religious or declare they believe in a god. However, I will agree that many such people are often ignorant of the tenets of their repective faiths. Of course, free will is what it is.
However, the common ground to many of the people in this up and coming generation is a lack of critical thinking skills and a lack of focus. Of course, that is a generalization, and many fine individuals are able to get the most out of their education.
I think the teachers should challenge peoples beliefs, in the right context and appropriate class, in order to stir debate and promote critical thought. Of course, there is a difference between teaching and indoctrination. In my experience, the best teachers always challenged you to think. The worst expected you to simply listen and regurgitate.
However, I hardly think that there is a huge swelling of anti-christian thought in this country. In fact, polls consistantly show that the US is one of the most religious of all first world nations. Several polls I have seen even seem to indicate a recent trend towards youth participation in faith-based activities over the last decade or so. Of course, there are those who are anti-christian, just as there are those who are anti-muslim, anti-hindu, etc. However, to charecterize it as a signifigant problem is an exaggeration.Here is a link to one survey that has show strong trends towards more religious activity in many parts of the country over the past decade. http://www.barna.org/cgi-bin/PagePressRelease.asp?PressRe...
Of course, Barna is a christian based market research company. You can also find similar stats showing how large a portion of the US population considers faith important with this article and supporting surveys. Search | Free Inquiry
There are several other polls I could did up that would show similar trends. America is not having a crisis involing a huge anti-christian movement, nor is religion rapidly losing its place in society.BTW: One purpose of english cirriculum is expose readers to various viewpoints, not all of which people might agree with. I haven't read the particular stories you referenced, but I can say from my own experiences in school that you will be exposed to books that will cover a wide range of beliefs, some which you may agree with, some which you may not.

Sorry to burst the bubble, but my highschool years weren't much different. There usually is only a small group that really cares about their faith at that age. Most kids have too many other things on their mind, and church is essentially unimportant to them at that stage.
As for polls, most scietific polls, if done right, are valid samples withing 3 to 5 percent. Given that the polls indicated a stable trend over decades, I will have to say they are more valid than you give them credit for. Additionally, you are basing your opinion on realitive appearances of at your school. One thing teenagers are notorious for is keeping many of their beliefs and opinions hidden, while portraying an image to fit their click or group identity.
Trust me, if you were to ask most of those students if they beleived in god, you would get a positive answer. Just because they aren't interested in religion doesnt mean they are athiests.

Well, I hardly doubt christianity or its values are fading. Alot of the people who aren't intersted in religion in highschool may well change their mind later. Many people in highschool care for little other than where they fit in their social group. Religion, like scholastics, is secondary for many teenagers. With a little maturity, many will turn their interests to a wider array of things.
Of course, there seems to be the implication in your statement that somehow a decline in active faith will somehow lead to a decline in other areas.