By DAVID YOUNT, Scripps Howard News Service

With the world economy tumbling, it's only natural for Americans to worry whether we can erect a safety net that will protect our homes, investments, and jobs, while ensuring our ability to afford health care and save for later years.

In an America notable for its faith, there is still plenty of disbelief to go around. The novelist Michael Crichton, who died recently, went to his grave disbelieving in global warming.

In the Garden of Eden, our first parents were given dominion over the animals, a responsibility that passed to humankind after their fall from grace. Since then, we humans have utilized animals -- both domesticated and wild -- as a source of food, and placed exotic animals in zoos and circuses for our amusement.

In the immediate aftermath of the First World War, the Times of London asked some of Britain's greatest thinkers to submit an essay to the newspaper responding to the question, "What's Wrong with the World?"

G.K. Chesterton replied with a single word: "Me!"

During my years in seminary, every evening meal was preceded by a reading from The Roman Martyrology, an ancient account of Christians who were tortured and slaughtered by the pagan Roman emperors. To this day I am amazed that the details, to which we listened in silence, didn't adversely affect our appetites.

As a young adult Saint Augustine of Hippo, a victim of his raging hormones, prayed poignantly to God: "Lord, give me chastity," then added, "But not yet."

You have to hand it to the French.

They are not only renowned for romance but for baby making. Having achieved a fertility rate of more than two children per woman, France is assured of replenishing its population, which has increased already by one-third of a million since 2006.

Among the provocative findings of two recent surveys of religious faith is that a majority of Americans who claim to be atheists are inclined to pray, one-third of them "often." About the same number of atheists profess a belief in Satan, hell and demons. Half of them believe in angels and ghosts.

Whenever I encounter clergy, regardless of faith or denomination, I inquire about the demands placed on their ministry. Apart from their duties of preaching, teaching, and leading worship for their congregations, what assistance do individual members ask of their pastors?

Once upon a time confession was private. Roman Catholics enjoyed the anonymity of seeking absolution in a dark confessional box where the priest could hear but not see the penitent. Psychotherapy was also typically a one-on-one encounter in the privacy of a psychiatrist's office.