Modern Israel is a Zionist, political project that's separate from the religious question I'm considering in this series of articles.

I agree with you, more or less, on the political issues. The West meant for Iran to be fighting against Iraq, which is why Bush Sr didn't remove Saddam Hussein. But Bush Jr did so, empowering Iran in the region. That was the cynical balance of powers strategy, before the rise of neoconservative incompetence.

The analogy with the southern states isn't so clear. First of all, I'm not talking about humour in general. I'm talking about humour about religion. The southern states are the fundamentalist ones, aren't they? They were also the more racist, slave-holding states. It's spooky how duped we may often be by our environment.

Yes, the Jewish scriptures depict the Jews as massacring everyone else in the name of spreading monotheism. But little of that was historical. It was written in hindsight to project the priestly ambitions onto the prior period. Do you think little Israel destroyed Egypt under Moses?

Islamic conquering was historical, not just literary. That's the historical difference that makes a cultural impact. Jews were conquered more often than they were the conquerors, which gave Jews a jaded, underdog, moralistic stature.

By contrast, Muslims may be too proud for their good (even as they say they're only submitting humbly to Allah). They should reckon with their current lowly, underdog status and see the lighter side of everything, including monotheism and theocracy.

Let the world be united in existential comedy!