Picture this if you will. In the beginning (being 1945) god created a shepherd (the Catholic Church) in which we the sheep followed blindly. Everywhere the shepherd took us, we would follow without complaint. A sheep dared not question the Shepherd or stray from the flock in fear of being labeled a bad sheep (catholic) and suffering the consequences of eternal damnation. But as time went on and the sheep modernized, however the shepherd was stubborn and conservative in his ways and refused to change. So the sheep began to stray from the shepherd with little fear, scattering, going to other pastures and other flocks with other Shepherds. The Shepherd realized his flock was depleting so he began to modernize as well and changed his ways. With this now modern shepherd, the modern sheep began to gradually come back. But living in a modern pasture the relationship between the two had changed.

Mr. Houston fellow students, "What were the reasons for the decline of Catholicism in America since 1945", this has been the topic of my research for the previous three terms. The previous analogy, although being far fetched, if you put it into perspective outlines

How has modern education affected Catholicism. From the late 1940's to the present, public education in America has been completely secularized. 1947 Everson v. Board of education the court had declared that the first Amendment erected "a wall of separation between church and state. 1961 Torcaso v Wathins court declared that a State could not require public employees to believe in the existence of god. 1963 Abington v Schempp, Supreme Court struck down, sponsored bible readings and recitation of the lords prayer in public schools. The Washington Evening star stated "God and religion have all been but driven from the public schools." Consequently because of the changed public sector of education you could easily believe that it would result in decline of Catholicism. However with this change as Rose states " Evangelicals began withdrawing from the public schools in 1950's.Between 1960-1975 public school enrolment declined by 40% while Christian school enrollments increased by !

So to my second research question, How have the changes in politics affected Catholicism since 1945. It seems Abraham Lincolns 'One Nation Under God' plays a very little role in politics as over the years the political arena has become very secular in nature. According to Moyer after "1945 in particular, the political agenda seemed to revolve almost entirely around the humdrum business of 'who gets what, when, how.'" Much of the blame for this secularity in politics is placed on liberals operating through the federal government. Liehman and Wuthnow mention "America is in a spiritual crisis and the cause of this crisis is simply the application by the federal government of liberal ideas and politics." Thus what is now seen is a bias in politics by these powerful liberal minorities in charge who tend to shrug off religious issues that the majority of the population are concerned about. Wuthnow states "The current leaders of government are overly hostile to religion. As a result !

he church appeared to be solid rooted and unchanged :fish on Friday; mass on Sunday in Latin etc. But then almost over night it was all right to eat meat on Friday, Mass was said in English with the priest facing the people etc. Greeley states 'Catholicism in America is more healthy and alive today than it was before Vatican 2.'America is a society engulfed in a culture of the American Dream, in pursuit of the almighty dollar. Reeves states "We are consumed by our jobs and endless pursuit of the power, cash, status and the pleasure of promise 'personal fulfilment and happiness' we therefore go about our lives pretty much the same as those who have no faith at all." One could speculate as to how Catholicism could survive in an age of materialism and consumerism. But this speculation is false for Catholicism has survived and its presence is increasing as Gallup Poll shows us. Money means a lot of things but it still doesn't bring meaning to life, this is why Catholicism co-exist!

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How has the mass media affected Catholicism since 1945. With almost every household receiving some form of media coverage it is evident that the mass media is very influential in America and indeed most western societies. In today's society as Reeves states "studies have shown an overwhelming bias

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