Originally Posted by abaya

Would you guys say that Christianity has a "cultural" identity in North America? It definitely does in Iceland--religion is institutionalized here, and yet it is a nation full of functional atheists. And yet, the vast majority of Icelanders are baptized, married, and buried in the church. They can't imagine doing it any other way, even if there is no faith or practice remaining.

I don't personally know many Americans who identify as Christian in a purely cultural manner--they're either very serious about their religion, or they're as far away from that as you can get. But my sample is biased according to my group of friends.