Is this the "Christianity" of most in the West?

I found this rather interesting passage in a book that I was recently reading (p. 272-3), and am wondering whether or not the "faith" of this person's mother is representative of much of the faith that you find in the Western world:

One day, around age 14, I declared to my mother that I was an atheist. She was a devoutly religious person, and I thought that this announcement would crush her. Instead, she said something like "That's nice, dear," as if I had just declared I no longer liked nachos. The next day, she sat me down by the kitchen table, a wrapped package in her lap. She said calmly, "So, I hear you are now an atheist. Is that true?" I nodded yes, and she smiled. She placed the package in my hands. "The man's name is Friedrich Nietzsche, and the booked is called Twilight of the Idols," she said. "If you are going to be an atheist, be the best one out there. Bon appetit!

The book doesn't say whether or not his mother was a "Christian", but given the demographics of North America I suspect that she probably fell into that category. For a large portion, the attitude that most seem to take to matters of belief can be seen as roughly that found in one exchange on an episode of Star Trek Deep Space Nine - basically a consumeristic approach:

					EZRI
				(to Kira)
			Would it bother you if Odo became
			a believer in...
				(picking something)
			-- Klingon religion?

					KIRA
			Not as long as he gets something
			out of it.