Mythical framing as way to explain humanity's evils is one thing. Stories from Beowulf to Superman tell of characters who are evil because of their actions, som

Mythical framing as way to explain humanity's evils is one thing. Stories from Beowulf to Superman tell of characters who are evil because of their actions, sometimes even trying to explain their motivations. We use these stories to frame why sometimes people do heinous acts. However, I've talked to thousands of Americans who truly believe that roughly half of Americans are in communication with the devil and are part of conspiracy to usher in Satan's reign. This has become a blind spot where wickedness in believers is excused because "they're on our side". Everything is framed in a cosmic scale war between good and evil. When someone "satanic" does a good thing it is waved away as just a ruse to somehow advance the forces of evil. Did "one of us" do something wicked? Well, in war sometimes you have to do hard things to get the job done. See recent examples of "Christian" politicians and religious leaders who are caught performing sexual assault, theft, bribery, miscarriage of justice, pride, or theft. The churches I grew up in don't even comment on these acts. They've turned entirely from "individuals vs their own sin" to "believers vs a made up demonic army". I've had opportunity to since travel to hundreds of churches along the East Coast and seen the same thing over and over. Some American churches haven't fallen into this weird demonic conspiracy theory, but I'd wager right now it's the majority of them. You'll hear them talk all day about sin, but always in a frame of "us vs them". I agree though, that in a historical sense, maybe we needed that explanation that sometimes people are wicked, and it's better to not be wicked. I'm not entirely sure though that religion is the only way those stories get told. Nor that religion has even measurably changed how much wickedness happens per capita. But as a reply to the OP comment, I think my comments still stand. Believers definitely inhabit a totally different world.