Apparently Voltaire never quite said exactly the quote that's been attributed to him:
Those Who Can Make You Believe Absurdities Can Make You Commit Atrocities
But that statement has been around long enough that, when I applied to attend the University of California at Berkeley, around 1962 or 63, it was offered to me as a possible subject for the 500-word essay I was expected to submit with my application. I don't recall what the other possible subjects were. I chose that one, and drafted a handwritten page or so (on the application) on why it is right. (At the time I didn't know it was attributed to Voltaire.) Cal admitted me for the 1963-64 year.
That was (my God!) sixty years ago. Voltaire has been dead for roughly 250 years. But the statement stands. And as I look around today, I see more atrocities being committed, by people who believe absurdities, than I want to consider. I'm not going to tell you what I think the atrocities are because I don't want to get into an internet screaming match. But there are dozens of them, being committed by people in the U.S. and elsewhere.
This isn't a good sign, people. I think I remember a time when we could agree on the basic facts of life and the world, but we seem to have lost that. It worries me. I wish I could close this post with a witty remark, but all I can come up with is, it worries me.
