Two years ago, Better Homes and Gardens published an in-magazine survey on spirituality. Since most BH&G surveys ask questions about potted plants, living room decor, and bathroom fixtures, a questionnaire on spirituality was a notable event in itself.

Even more notable, however, were the results. Most respondents told the BH&G editors that they participated in organized religion. That finding is consistent with other surveys such as Gallup Polls that consistently show over 65 percent of Americans belong to a church.

The intensity of response to the BH&G survey was impressive. More than eighty thousand readers (out of a circulation of eight million) took the time to clip the survey from the magazine, fill it out, and mail it in. The editors, in commenting on the results, said that "perhaps the most consistently expressed sentiment was one thanking us for printing the survey, for acknowledging the spiritual side of our readers' lives."

Yet many who responded felt that the religious organizations ...