Is this a secular age?

All right, I lied. I said this was the end of the travel blogs, but I seem to have become used to sharing my thoughts, and the process of writing is reassuring and positive, so... here are a few more random thoughts about my favourite subject, religion.
Are we really living in a secular age? Is religion only a dying subject, prone to ridicule and sneers? Is spirituality the "new" religion? In Quebec, where Catholicism seems to be only practiced by the older generations, maybe I'm looking for answers in a particularly sensitive area.
Charles Taylor, in his provocative and dense book "A Secular Age", thinks there are two kinds of people, namely believers and non-believers. Is this right? What happens to people who believe in a higher power (like a number of my friends) but not in God? Frustrated by the Catholic Church's errors and embarrassing sexual past, Quebecers seem to be confused when I say I'm religious. Why would I believe?
Religion is a diccy issue. When I say I'm doing a Masters in Religious Studies, I either get stares or polite comments like "oh... how interesting." Far from the reaction I got when I studied law.
On the other hand, look at world affairs. Islamic adherence is on the rise, as is religious fanatacism, unfortunately. Just as unfortunate, the Norwegian police have just arrested a man they suspect killed 91 people, supposedly because he hated Muslims. Religion can't be dead if people commit such acts. What really makes my blood boil is when people blame religion for violence. "The Crusades, the 9/11 terrorist killings, all of it is due to religion." I've heard this too many times to count and would like to address this argument. Religion, just like politics, can be warped and corrupted by officials. We can't blame Catholicism and its beautiful theology, we should blame the Pope or the priests. Don't label Islam as a fundamental religion.
Well, that's all for now. Any thoughts?