Take a look at the following clip: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/OOtsNpcyUhM
In the short above Hitchens is co-signing the following quote:
“…good people can behave well and bad people can do evil; but for good people to do evil—that takes religion.”
For a long time I would’ve also co-signed this quote. But I realized a few months ago it’s actually not quite right.
Hitchens made a category error (blasphemy, I know). Here’s a more correct version:
“…good people can behave well and bad people can do evil; but for good people to do evil—that takes a story.”
A story.
A story encapsulates everything from Catholicism to Nazism. From tribal political beliefs to the personal dramas in each of our own lives. Stories are the fundamental mechanism by which humans organize, make decisions, and relate to the world. Individually and collectively.
Any story sufficiently popular, whether it claims itself sacred or not, will be interpreted by the entire spectrum of human brains and hearts. Good and bad, smart and dumb, and everything in between. No story can escape this. Religion isn’t immune from this. But neither is everything else. We layer stories over everything. We can’t not do it.
Holy books can be as silly and barbaric as humans. I used to agree with Hitch that getting rid of religion would make the world a better place. But now… I don’t know. What is religion if not a story that claims itself sacred? How do we organize communities and societies if we can’t agree on what’s sacred? Or if nothing is sacred?
As much as I love my professional internet atheists, the stories they tell resonate with only a small number of people. How do we tell a new story? One that could capitivate the world and re-orient hearts and minds towards Good. Hmmmmmmmm…