Talking of America while ignoring her faith is like...

Opening quote on the back jacket of the UK edition of Christianity in America: A Handbook (editors Mark A. Noll, Nathan O. Hatch, George M. Marsden, David F. Wells, and John D. Woodbridge), Lion Publishing, 1983, ISBN 0856487007:

Talking of America while ignoring her faith is like describing Switzerland without the Alps... - Os Guinness.