Here is an explanation of secularism, Christianity and religious peace that is fascinating. Plainly, the wealthier (and more educated a society), the less likely religious institutions will claim power - of a particular sort. Wolfe notes, at the end, that megachurches are how people organize in the US. But religious values (frugality, etc) beget and end to religious observance.
From The New Scientist
Higgs boson: Glimpses of the God particle
* 02 March 2007
* NewScientist.com news service
* Anil Ananthaswamy
"If the blips in the debris of the Tevatron particle smasher really are signs of the Higgs boson then it's not what we expected. It might mean that it's time to replace the standard model with a more complex picture of the universe"