The Danger of The Simple Story: What Martyr Made’s Critics Are Getting Wrong

There is good in the bad, and there is bad in the good. Ignore this truth at your peril.

It’s often those who seek to protect a culture who end up eroding it. In the wake of a surprisingly immense controversy over the legacy of a long-dead British Prime Minister, I worry I’m watching those who fervently wish to protect Western classical liberalism unknowingly contribute to its downfall.

Human civilization is constructed around stories. The stories we share unite a society by orienting us toward the same values and goals, in the process increasing trust, cooperation, and harmony. As many before me have noted, this is the fundamental utility of religion. The divine ties between pharaohs and the gods inspired the building of the Pyramids, one of the greatest engineering and construction challenges in history. The story of Jesus enabled Christendom to cooperate in building a European civilization more technologically advanced than anywhere else on earth. Due to the story of Mohammed, civilization could even expand from the harsh conditions of the Arabian desert.

But this phenom…