Religion is not the opiate of the people. That’s a condescending charge, alleging that people desensitize themselves. At least here in the U.S. religion serves as a disguise behind which people hide their real intent. Does that make them all liars? Not really. Liars deceive in order to injure the lied to; Americans lie to protect themselves. I think that in German I would call them bauern schlau. It is a characteristic behavior that I found familiar in the behavior of the shep herders of Iraq in el Anbar province. I suppose naive Americans associated it with wily coyote. Yes, “wily” is probably a good translation of “schlau.”

The Hörpfing farmer’s wife was schlau in trading her milk and eggs for fabrics and furs she hid under her high bed. I wonder how much I learned in those four early years. It was in another language that I have nor spoken since.