A study of private religion in Canada showed similar results. The magazine Alberta Report observes: “We now see a high level of belief in almost anything imaginable, but there’s no rhyme or reason to it. And when we then try to measure the sort of guidance these private beliefs play in people’s lives, there’s really nothing there. There’s no ultimate moral authority. So it really doesn’t add up to anything.” The magazine spoke of “the fragmented god” because those espousing such beliefs are “grasping bits and pieces of the traditional creed.”

“Religion is now a matter of private judgment . . . , and thus we have become a country of not a few hundred different creeds but a few million,” Alberta Report noted.