Why did the Los Angeles Times run a simple-minded opinion piece on a significant social trend: the ongoing democratization of American religion.

Riffing on a recent Pew Study on Americans' penchant for spiritual eclecticism, Barry Goldman laments the loss of religious authority. Goldman's actual grievance is the loss of scientific authority, but focusing on that would have cost him nine cutesy-poo paragraphs on Aunt Mary's aphorisms, bunnies' sex organs and Mr. Potato-head spirituality.

The Pew survey does reaffirm the fact that Americans "engage in multiple religious practices, missing elements of diverse traditions." But that's not new news. Almost two decades ago, historian Jon Butler radically revised notions of colonial American religion by showing how occult beliefs and practices thrived just below the surface of the Protestant establishment. Arguably, it was the American gift for synthesis, the desire for both magic and ministers that made our religious landscape rich, thick and unpredictable.

This unpredictability leads to pendulum swings. Religiosity during the Revolutionary Era was at an ebb in comparison with the flood-tides of religious fervor 50 years earlier and 20 years later. Similarly we find ourselves in a DIY age, wherein many feel less inclined to join institutions than to do what feels right for them. One man, one vote; one person, one religion.

Deborah Howell would have been excited by the possibilities for subsequent coverage. Howell, who was prematurely struck down last week, was that rare news editor who not only appreciated religion but also lobbied for it. She understood that the passion for meaning, identity and purpose—the heart of religion and spirituality—concerned all news consumers. In all her incarnations, from editor of the St. Paul Pioneer Press to Washington bureau chief of Newhouse News Service to Washington Post ombudsman, she championed smart coverage of concerns people lived with—from gender and sexuality to race and religion.

That kind of smart coverage—appreciating what is important in people's lives and trying to understand why—still thrives in American newspapers. In a 24-hour period, the New York Times had an in-depth analysis of American evangelicals' role in Uganda's proposed legislation to kill gays; a lyrical meditation  on the fate of small French churches (with savvy points about the relationship between crumbling cathedrals, Muslim immigrants and rising secularism), and an environmental update that pitted a native American tribe against a proposed wind farm for spiritual reasons.  

Also noteworthy—and I hope Mr. Goldman saw it—was a Philadelphia Inquirer story on the Eastern Orthodox churches of Northern Liberties, a gentrifying neighborhood that is undergoing rapid change. David O'Reilly digs deep into the histories of five churches to understand their history in the neighborhood and their significance for their Eastern European parishioners.

But it's the small snapshots of the newcomers that stick with me. All demurred when asked about church, but they each had a comeback: one was interested in cleaning up the park, another tried to be a good person and several said they believed in God in their own fashion. Doesn't sound like Mr. Potato-head spirituality to me. It sounds like people trying to find meaning and purpose in ways that made sense to them—and when religious institutions catch up, that's going to be a riveting story.

Diane Winston