I think this is a very good column, one of Brook's better ones.  Much to think about-- reminded me of friends, good old Bill the Jehovah'a Witness who comes by monthly with his good heart and  his Watchtower, such spiritual warmth  but a theology far from my own; those two good Mormon lads who came by the other day, sweet and goodhearted, and  when I questioned their curious historical  views, reminded me "by their fruits ye shall know them"; and my friend the Christian Scientist who is brimful of health without doctors, dentists, medicine  or aspirin.........
All of these folks are "purists" in the sense they "have contact with a transcendent ideal"...yet have the ability to "throw oneself more deeply into friendship with complexity, with different believers and atheists, liberals and conservatives, the dissimilar and unalike."
I admire them all for their passionate  ability to love their own faith yet live in a world of multicultural respect, which is America's best hope.