No doubt this explains why Americans remain the most religious people in the Western world while the Europeans have "lost interest." Americans remain embarrassingly religious because they, by and large, adhere to a faith, Christianity, that enjoins the infliction of humiliation and pain upon those who don't believe. Anyone who has read the Sermon on the Mount or the lives of the saints, Mother Teresa or St. Francis come to mind, can see this plainly. Moreover, anyone who has even a passing familiarity with the story of Jesus' life and death has been profoundly struck by the encouragement he offers to those who yearn to give expression to their sadistic predilections.
It is wisdom like this that has made Richard Rorty one of the most esteemed philosophers of our time.
