Is America losing its religion? I’m not talking about declining church attendance or fewer prayers in schools. I’m talking about America’s secular religion — our understanding of ourselves, our institutions and our history. The civic literacy that underlies our way of life is on the decline, according to a new report by the Intercollegiate Studies Institute and the University of Connecticut.

People should always be suspicious of studies that ask us to fret about “the kids today” or “the future of America.” But if the findings in the ISI study reflect the woeful state of civic literacy among college students, we have good reason to be concerned. Consider: