The Archbishop of Canterbury, with the other three presidents, praised the "unprecedented scale" of compassion shown after the tsunami. "But each day, 30,000 people die of hunger and poverty and disease. And these are deaths which are within human power to prevent."

In Europe, religious education is the rule from the elementary grades o­n. So Austrians, Norwegians and the Irish can tell you about the Seven Deadly Sins or the Five Pillars of Islam. But, according to a 1997 poll, o­nly o­ne out of three U.S. citizens is able to name the most basic of Christian texts, the four Gospels, and 12% think Noah's wife was Joan of Arc. That paints a picture of a nation that believes God speaks in Scripture but that can't be bothered to read what he has to say.