As belief diminishes over time and becomes less central to society the quality of the clergy has diminished too, in the main stream religions. The bible school trained preachers or those conmen and narcissist's who are "inspired by God" never changed much since the days of Joe Smith and the Mormons. It's easier to subvert an existing religion than to start fresh and this is the usual course of action. Most are some kind of pseudo Christianity in America.
Delusion is normal Captain and in fact essential to the mental health of most people, mass delusion is and has always been common and in the last few centuries religion has moved from a way of explaining the universe and our place in it to delusion. Science revealed the true nature of reality and we are still trying to get to the bottom of it, most educated people who have not been strongly conditioned to religion and can actually think, fall away from it. We still seem to need the ceremonies that go with it though, the christenings, marriages and funerals. Sprinkle Christians, sprinkled with water, rice and earth. Even that is fading away with civil ceremonies and non religious memorial services.
We are living in the bombed out ruins of a Christian society with in a secular one. Increasingly religion is becoming the realm of the abusively conditioned, the stupid and the mentally unstable.