If you were president, what would be the first law that you would pass?

"Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live."  Tara was sentenced to burn in three days, to coordinate with the Fall Festival.  All the town would be there to witness and pray for their own souls.  Tara's was, to them, already long gone.

What is the nicest thing you have done for someone?

When I was little, I thought I had a guardian angel, but then the priest at my church said that guardian angels don't leave candy or toy cars or books.  Father Mayer probably thought I was lying to him to have something to say, but it was my honest belief.  I was disappointed when he wasn't awestruck by my close acquaintance with an actual angel and I vowed never to tell anyone else.

Is it possible to separate church and state? Why or why not?

When it became good business, my Da opened up a church.  We were a traveling preacher show at first, when he saw how prayer loosened pocketbooks, but when we came upon the city of St. Marie and he found out that an empty prayer house could be had for a song, we settled in and became religious.

What’s the difference between religion and spirituality?

"Brother Carlyle," the monk cleared his throat and shifted in his bare, wooden chair, "lives alone."

The reporter was beginning to get annoyed, but tried not to show it.  "I understand that, but why did he choose to separate himself?"

"He didn't, Miss."  The monk was newer, that is, he became a member within the last ten years.  Most of the monks were quite old, but this one could still be considered young.  She arched one eyebrow and he continued in a whisper, "Brother Carlyle was sent away."

Now we're getting somewhere.  The other brothers, friars, monks, priests, or whatever they were, kept giving her the runaround, but eventually, Tia Teagarten always got her story.  She leaned in and matched the monk's volume, "Why was he sent away?"

If you could meet with President Obama for fifteen minutes, what would you discuss with him?

I wish the world would embrace peace.  It sounds like such a hippie thing to say.  Unfortunately, the hippie movement was undermined by resistance to change and drugs.  Those resistant to change pointed to the drugs as the reason why hippies shouldn't be listened to, and some hippies were more into "expanding their minds" than peace, but those undermining reasons never mattered.  Only peace mattered.  Only peace matters.

I have a secret.  It's huge.  I mean, it's unbelievable.  It has made me see how humans will never believe the message of peace.  It has made me see how humans will never relinquish their love of power and money, which is what made religion what it is today.  Religion is humans controlling humans, I see that now.  It's not peace and harmony.  Religion is the leading cause of death and suffering in the world, so how could it be peace and love and harmony and all that bull?  It's not, and I can prove it with my secret.

The Savior is here.  Don't dismiss me as a crazy!  Isn't this what everybody's been waiting for, so why is it so unbelievable?  I didn't believe it myself, at first.  But now I do, and...  I'd better begin at the beginning.

Pageant Question: You have been granted a miraculous healing power that could terminate any single disease, which one disease would you choose?

Father Mark wasn't used to having parishioners actually wanting to speak with him.  He was used to having brief, polite conversations at the end of Mass; stern conversations with parents of Sunday school kids; whispered confessions muffled by oak and worn velvet.  But not a request to go out for coffee, and never from someone his own age.

The cavernous church emptied further with every funeral.  Grey, silver, white and bald heads dotted the first ten rows.  One Sunday morning, at 10:30 Mass, now the only Mass held because of the poor attendance, there was a new face under a shock of unruly dark brown hair.  A new, young face.  The young man stood and sat and knelt just slightly after everyone else, not as familiar with what Father Mark once overheard someone call "Catholic aerobics".

One Sunday evening as he dozed in the confessional waiting the usual handful of "I took the Lord's name in vein when I couldn't get my pill bottle open," Father Mark popped to attention when he heard a new voice.  "Father, may I speak to you?"

Pageant Question: Which constitutional freedom do you value most as an American?

"Freedom of religion," whispered Grandfather, "means freedom from religion."

"Hush, Papa!  You don't want to be heard."

"Now, Mother, we're safe in this shelter.  I've made sure of it."

Grandmother still worried, but she went to the pantry to pull together dinner.  The cans and pots hitting the counter too hard meant she was angry.  At the time, I thought it was because she thought Grandfather was careless, which he never was, but now I know she was scared for me and for my brother Matthew, who was a year younger.  She was afraid we'd repeat what Grandfather told us and get us all killed.  We were only eight and nine, but we knew the stakes, and so did Grandfather.

36

As religious orders go, the Brothers of Peace were among the most devout. Unlike other famously hypocritical religious, those accepted into Peace were those who had proven themselves worthy, steadfast, hard-working, and truly peaceful. The Brothers of Chastity couldn't make those claims. Not after the string of scandals.

The Brothers of Peace had a monastery in the rolling foothills at the base of the Mountains of Forever. The woods were thick and teeming with wildlife that the Brothers never killed. In keeping with their peaceful nature, the Brothers were vegetarian, and some were even vegan.

Brother Augustine was just vegetarian, he loved a good omelet, and he had been with the order for ten years. Peace cloaked him, as it did all the Brothers who stayed with the order for any length of time.