welcome to "inside story", i'm tessa worley. -- i'm ray suarez. before there was a united states the majority living here, then and now were christians. protestants fleeing, french catholic priests heading up the mississippi. spanish catholics planting the seeds for what are now some of the greatest cities. san diego, los angeles, san francisco. >> in terms of active affiliation, the u.s. has been portrayed as an exception to the wealthy west. the latest numbers seem to show america may be heading in the same direction, on a different timetable. john terrett takes us through the data. >> let us pray. >> it's a tradition, a chaplain delivering a prayer. the constitution doesn't shy away from fate. most u.s. presidents have been sworn into office by taking an oath on a christian bible. >> i barak hussain obama... >> christianity is woech into american -- woven into american culture. the numbers that consider themselves christians may be on the decline. the christian share has faup from 78.4% in 2006 to 7 0.6" today. adults under the age of 33 are a