Rafael Sabatini's Extently Insane

I consider this to be the key chapter in the book. It makes a point about reality which doesn’t seem to get made, although many, many people have sensed what is going on. Watch and listen carefully, and it soon becomes clear that countless people have glimpsed the truth. Rafael Sabatini, for example, did so, as the (moderately) famous first sentence of his historical romance Scaramouche (see first Scaramouche epigraph above) makes clear. He followed up that sentence, within a few pages, with two more supporting sentences making the same approximate point. In a little while I will quote from one of the comic geniuses of our day; he also has glimpsed the truth. Here it is: we are all insane. Once we begin to understand this truth, everything

Nevertheless, it is crucial to understand that insanity is a key element of the character of each human being. Ecclesiastes understood: “the hearts of the sons of men are full of evil, and insanity is in their hearts throughout their lives” (Eccl. 9:3). One could of course contend that this applies only to those outside of Christ, and that the “wicked madness” later spoken of (Eccl. 10:13) applies only to fools who reject God and His Christ. But my experience has been that insanity is in the hearts of everyone, Christian and non-Christian. For an example, I need look no further than myself. I have never been in danger of being institutionalized, but some of my ideas and actions have been completely nutty. These things happened not just when I was not a Christian, but also after many years as a Christian. One could contend that I am simply worse than other Christians, and that most Christians are completely sane all the time. While I may be worse than most Christians, it remains my experience that all Christians are insane. Every Christian I know believes and acts in some ways that are completely insane. If you can’t see the insanity, it may be because you are yourself insane on the same issue. Or, it may be that you just don’t know the person well enough

A few months ago I heard a thoughtful Christian friend, Donna Hennessee (age 89 at the time), make a passing comment that U.S. foreign policy was crazy. She was speaking colloquially, informally. But she was of course completely correct. Our foreign policy is crazy. Where we go dramatically wrong is in failing to understand that the insanity of the people running and guiding our foreign policy is a large factor for why they pursue the policies they pursue. Typically, we characterize the people promulgating these policies as many things: misguided, confused, traitorous, evil, chauvinist, blinded by ideology, filled with hubris, self-absorbed, cowardly, bullies. They may be some or all of these things, and a few more. But Mrs. Hennessee went to the heart of the matter. These people are literally