Sentence:  However , even if the latent demand for demythologization <WSD>is</WSD> not nearly as widespread as we are claiming , at least among the cultured elements of the population there tends to be an almost complete indifference to the church and its traditional message of sin and grace . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun)