If I were forced to choose a religious denomination, it would be Quaker. (I could almost be a Buddhist, but I can't take reincarnation seriously.) I've never formally become a member, but I was a serious attender for several years. My wife and I were married under the care of the Twin Cities Friends' Meeting, St. Paul, Minnesota, in 1985. Our wedding was undoubtedly the deepest single spiritual experience of my life. Our hand-lettered marriage certificate, signed by all those present, hangs in our dining room.

In recent years, though, we have both become backsliders. Except for a recent memorial service, I haven't attended a meeting in nearly a year. But I'm glad to know the meeting is there if I need it. If the U.S. is ever again threatened, or threatening, to be in a war, I will be back there in a minute.

Animaterra: I don't know if there is a society without violence, contentiousness, judgmentalism, etc., but it seems to me that the Tibetans come closest to that ideal. I would be a whole-hearted follower of the Dalai Lama, except that, as I said, I can't literally believe in reincarnation.