“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon … but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other,” Ulysses S. Grant once said.

Superstition, ambition and ignorance are threats indeed. History is full of instances where a popular delusion has caused immense harm. Often the mechanism is some unjustified attitude, prejudice or personal attachment, fanned into a flame by ambitious self-interest and accepted and acted upon by a public too busy or unwilling to consider the matter and its claimed justification fully.

In 1903, Russian secret police fabricated “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion” which purported to describe a series of meetings of Jewish leaders outlining their strategies for domination of the world economy, cultural institutions and governments. This was an apparent attempt to scapegoat Russian Jewry within Russia. Though debunked in 1921, it was picked up by others, including the Nazi Party. To them, it provided a convenient answer to the question of how Germany could have lost The Great War. It featured in “Mein Kampf” and went through 22 printings in Germany between 1934 and 1938. While not the sole cause of the Holocaust, it was certainly a contributor in the hands of Nazi propagandists. I believe I see echoes in the demonization of George Soros and even Marjorie Taylor Greene’s reference to “Jewish Space Lasers.”

Up for another? In 1939, scientists publicized a correlation between smoking and lung cancer. This was solidified by other studies in Britain (1950), the U.S. (1954) and finally the U.S. Surgeon General’s Report in 1964. It was not until 1998 that tobacco merchants were held liable for state health care costs (but not the pain, suffering and death of their customers). Throughout, the tobacco companies have invested heavily in lobbying efforts to influence policymakers and oppose regulations. They have also used legal challenges to slow the implementation of tobacco control measures. This continues with the FDA’s proposed ban on menthol in cigarettes, now a year beyond its proposed implementation, to be delayed indefinitely. Today in the U.S. alone about 28 million adults are smokers and almost half a million people die from smoking annually. Delusions die more slowly.

Of course, superstition, ambition and ignorance have not disappeared. Here are some current examples:

Current Christian Nationalism (most definitely not endorsed by all Christians) advocates “a drive to privilege Christianity above other faiths, … and the false assertion that the founding fathers created the U.S. to be a Christian nation,” according to Episcopal News Service. There are two specific provisions of the U.S. Constitution: Article IV (no religious test for public office) and the First Amendment (no establishment of a state religion and guarantees of free exercise of religion) which give lie to this. Early political figures including Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Jackson and Grant all specifically supported the separation of church and state. It is ironic that some Christian Nationalists actually proclaim the “Seven Mountains Mandate” for Christians to take charge of numerous aspects of society, business and the government, when the mere allegation of similar intent was a mortal threat to a less popular religion. Still, Louisiana now requires posting the Ten Commandments in public school classrooms and Oklahoma requires the integration of the Bible in public school classes from the fifth grade on.

We are seeing manifestations of Climate Change on nearly a daily basis, from more extreme storms to new temperature records. Recently, Connecticut saw two “thousand-year floods” on the same day! Yet, those with an interest in maintaining the market for fossil fuels or just wary of change are actively undermining consensus on actions to mitigate this threat. They have funded disinformation, lobbied the government, filed legal challenges and more to maintain the current markets for carbon use. There is current planning and discussion of gutting the Inflation Reduction Act of its climate preservation provisions.

Seeing any patterns here?

You can probably think of many other instances where self-interested promoters and politicians have created and fed delusions to gain wealth and/or power. Grant was right about “superstition, ambition and ignorance.” Maybe a little “patriotism and intelligence” are in order.

Tom Thomas lives in Louisville.