Poisoned

The world has been poisoned twice.
First by the idea of a punishing god - a god who drowns us, burns us, inflicts plagues on us, even throws hailstones at us (see Joshua) - a god who likes nothing as much as the sound of weeping - a god who makes frequent use of a "terrible swift sword" - a god who scourges whole nations. The ancient Jews thought up the idea, they elaborated upon it in their sacred scriptures: the books of Joshua, Lamentations, etc. Their god at his worst is intolerant, legalistic (see Deuteronomy), racist (see 2 Samuel 1-15) - really a monster raging in the sky, lit by lightning, a danger to the earth.
Christianity has progressed beyond this primitive idea. Jesus proclaimed a gentle God, a loving father who forgave over and over again. Tragically, there are those within the faith still in thrall to the punishing god, still eager to chastise in his name.
Second by "Modernism" (self-glorification and self-destruction). Modernism can best be understood by reading such works as James Joyce's Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (the Bible of Modernism, wherein the title character tries to avoid entanglement in the "nets" of religion, family, and nationality).
Modernists disdain traditional societies, some of them ancient, from Mexico to France to Thailand; disdain the values associated with these societies such as honor, loyalty, detachment, duty, compassion (values which generally involve a higher power or some form of self-sacrifice). As a substitute Modernists propose talk shows for the lower class, the Guggenheim for the upper class, and a low-birth rate for everyone - depression too, for the Modernist ridiculous moments of optimism (the October Revolution, Woodstock) only rarely interrupt long decades of despair.
Where did Modernism come from? It started in the 1700s. Large numbers of peasants, no longer needed on the land, migrated to the cities. There the peasants met artists and intellectuals, workers and thieves, Gypsies and Jews. Amidst this jumble, in the free city air, arose a cosmopolitan culture sometimes crass, sometimes exquisite, that some found liberating. What could be more pleasurable than negotiating a tradition-bound society, oneself unbound by any tradition? What could be more enjoyable than traversing the provinces, ridiculing the curious inhabitants thereof, taking advantage of every sod-headed lump you meet. It is the thrill of the imperialist or of the urban adventurer - the gangster, the sophisticate. Unfortunately it is a thrill at the expense of the majority.
Both these poisons are often detected together. Both punishment and crime, both the police state and social disintegration, both the harshest retribution and the vilest sin. And so many have a taste, a hunger, for both. Think of the celebrity-criminals, or criminal-celebrities, or celebrities playing criminals, etc. Think of the ritual sacrifice of such people on tv. Ponder the symbiotic relationship between the authorities and the outlaws. The problem is: we are addicted to the drama of sin and punishment.