A study of two Gallup Polls shows that Americans maintain traditional attitudes regarding religion, abortion, and evolution but are becoming more liberal regarding homosexuality. The two main polls we quote here are:
1) "Long-Term Gallup Poll Trends: A Portrait of American Public Opinion Through the Century" - December 20, 1999 - by Frank Newport, David W. Moore, and Lydia Saad (Gallup News Service article)
2) "American Attitudes Toward Homosexuality Continue to Become More Tolerant - June 4, 2001 - by Frank Newport - (Gallup News Service article)

The above-mentioned Gallup Century Poll showed that Americans have a steady rate of weekly church/synagogue attendance, around 40%, for the past thirty years. September 11 produced a transitory rise in attendance, as studied in a third Gallup Poll "What Were Sept. 11's Effects on Religion in America?" but soon things settled back to the old numbers. This makes America a religious country, because if 40% attend weekly, we assume that others attend monthly, or even annually, or maintain some connection to their place of worship. When we realize that many Americans live in areas, such as suburbs, where a place of worship for their particular religion may not be available, this rate for weekly attendance at church/synagogue is heartening.
Gallup Poll Analysis, "Substantial Numbers of Americans Continue to Doubt Evolution as Explanation for Origin of Humans" by Deborah Jordan Brooks dated March 5, 2001, shows that a majority of Americans believe in creationism over evolution, and only one third of the American public say, "Darwin's theory of evolution is well supported by evidence." Some believed that G-d participated in human evolution over a long period, but only 12% believed that "G-d had no part in the process." Gallup notes "The public has not notably changed its opinion on this question since Gallup started asking it in 1982."
The Century Gallup Poll shows that the American public is divided on abortion, but that the attitudes are the same today as they were in 1975; generally speaking, the majority favors it only for certain circumstances. In the eighties, the poll showed an increase in the pro-abortion side, but that has cooled because of partial-birth abortions. Therefore, today things are back to where they were in 1975. Thus, in almost every area, the ruckus of the past decades did not change things.
Gallup's poll on homosexuality of June 4, 2001, showed the following:
1) The percentage of Americans who believe "homosexuality is an acceptable alternative lifestyle" rose from 38% in 1992 to 52% today, an increase of 14% in less than a decade. The Century Gallup Poll records that the previous decade, from 1982 to 1992, there was only a four-point jump, from 34% who felt that homosexuality was an acceptable alternative lifestyle to 38%. Thus, the acceleration of approval for homosexuality, from 4% a decade to 14% in less than a decade, is almost a fourfold leap. As we mentioned earlier, abortion, evolution, worship all remained static for many decades. Only homosexual approval shot up in the past few years.
2) 52% of Americans oppose civil unions for gays. However, in only about half a year, from October 28 2000 to May 10 2001, those favoring gay civil unions and some rights of married couples rose two percent. At that rate, in a year, the majority of 52% would become 50%, and in another six months, become a minority.
We see how unique the gay issue is, couched as it is in civil rights, seizing the high ground and getting push from the media, colleges and culture. Those who wish to stop the Gay Lobby have very little time.