Religion or Faith

bringinginthesheaveswewillcomerejoicing
Reports on the presidential debacle refer to Mitt Romney and his Mormon Faith. A few years ago this would have been religion. The word seems to have spread that people don't like religion, so we need to call it something else.
Is Faith a good word to use? Faith is an intangible, similar to trust, respect, believe and like. It is a confidence that something will happen, or that someone has your best interests at heart. While its use indicating a system of religious belief is valid, one wonders whether another intangible would do just as well. Maybe we should speak of someone's Catholic Trust, or Jewish Respect. Or maybe just accept that we are all the children of G-d and not exploit Religion for selfish gain.
If this continues, will Faith become a dirty word the way Religion is now?