They stood and cheered as the white-haired evangelist, accompanied by his eldest son, Franklin, slowly made his way to the stage with the help of a walker. Although his large, wooden pulpit included a chair in case the elderly preacher needed to sit, Mr. Graham stood throughout his 25-minute sermon.

Layard observes that Bentham's ideas had great influence, but that over time the search for happiness often degenerated into rampant individualism. As a remedy Layard argues that we need to renew the concept of the search for happiness by adding to it the idea of the common good, thus avoiding excessive individualism.

The recent passage of Canada's Bill C-250, which amended the hate crimes law to include sexual orientation, is a case in point, and the looming "same-sex marriage" bill is another. A number of aspects of the new hate crimes law are especially disturbing.

Nearly all U.S. respondents said faith was important to them and only 2 percent said they did not believe in God, according to the polling conducted for the AP by Ipsos.

Almost 40 percent in this country said religious leaders should try to sway policymakers, notably higher than in other countries.