WASHINGTON

RECENT ARTICLES and surveys have documented a decline in traditional Christianity in America. The most recent American Religious Identification Survey as well other polling data reflect three major trends, all of which track those already further along in Europe: 1) The number of people who identify themselves as “Christians” has fallen; 2) the percentage of people who do not identify with any faith has increased, and at the same time there is a general decline in those who think that “religion” is the answer to social problems; and 3) the number of people who describe themselves as “atheist” or “agnostic” has quadrupled since 1990 to 3.6 million.

Are any of these trends cause for concern? From the view of organized religion, these statistics are sure to be profoundly alarming. At one level, it means fewer members, shrinking donations and less-than-full churches each Sunday. On a more basic level, it means that those who are deeply committed to their faiths and who find that faith is fundamental to their lives may worry that fewer Americans share their spiritual and religious values.

Since we think of this country’s tradition as built on morality and tolerance, do these trends mean that we are becoming a nation of individuals who care only about conventional success and pleasure? Is belief in God necessary to be moral? Voltaire took this position but even many deeply religious Americans would reject it. The truth is that it is possible to follow a highly ethical code for living without relying on any conception of God. In general, however, a central, unifying idea that represents the most fundamental and important purpose in life makes possible a personal commitment to this higher purpose. Moreover, it serves as a way for us as a larger community to communicate that idea to each other and reinforce it.

That is why we should keep the idea of God alive, even if we give up on the traditional conception of God described in the Bible. Although organized religion may be in a position of retrenchment, the good news for American society as a whole is that people are not giving up on their search for something more fundamental than physical pleasure and material wealth. Although an increasing percentage of people do not identify with any religion, “faith” and “religion” in the context of these surveys mean organized religion.

A rejection of organized religion does not mean the absence of a personal search for meaning or belief in a conception of God that is different from the one in the Bible. For example, while only 69.5 percent of people believe in a personal God, another 12.1 percent say they believe in an impersonal higher power. I suspect many of the people who describe themselves as agnostics, or even atheists, are also looking for some way to identify meaning in life that transcends what we see around us every day.

It is likely that the many of those who have left the Old and New Testament behind, individuals whom I describe as “Uncertain Believers,” have abandoned the conventional tenets of Judeo-Christianity. But they want to replace them with something that is uplifting and real. In my view, that means rethinking our conception of God, not forgetting God altogether. There is every reason to believe that some Americans’ loss of faith in the traditional God of the Bible does not mean they have given up on a search for meaning.

Edward Correia is the author of The Uncertain Believer: Reconciling God and Science (Sterling House Publisher Inc., June 2009) and a former special counsel for President Clinton.