The people who gathered to Mormonism in its founding era were part of a larger movement of people who were disatisfied with the conventional churches of their day, who saw in the New Testament a vision of a church on intimate terms with God. Various pentecostal movements and the home church movement, arged for by Frank Viola, are ongoing manifestations of the same hunger to be part of the authentic, original Church of Jesus Christ. Traditional churches were adversaries of all of these movements, including Mormonism. If more Americans are again losing their ties to historical churches, it will be easier for many of them to find their way to the LDS Church.

Over at GetReligion, you can find two separate comments, the first from E.E. Evans here.
The reaction of this conservative, unorthodox Christian, however, is much closer to tmatt’s “irreverance” toward Meacham, and what he has taken to calling, and not without good reason, “nonNewsweek” in that, IMO, the article is yet another in a long series of attempted explanations of religion in America that partake in a whole lot of liberal wishful thinking. Yes, there are shifting patterns of religious perspective and observance (and not always in what I would consider a “good” direction). And there is good reason to consider what is going on and what Church’s and others ought to do about it. But to fervently anticipate–at least in the short-term–a European-style post-Christian
America is, IMO, mostly wearing your liberal politics on one’s sleeve.

By the way, that was an excellent post for somebody on vacation.

Please apologize to your wife for us.