• How do people reenact famous battles? Recorded history, real or fabricated, can still be instructive. Take Ezekiel 9:

    Then the Lord called to the man clothed in linen who had the writing kit at his side 4 and said to him, “Go throughout the city of Jerusalem and put a mark on the foreheads of those who grieve and lament over all the detestable things that are done in it.” As I listened, he said to the others, “Follow him through the city and kill, without showing pity or compassion. Slaughter the old men, the young men and women, the mothers and children, but do not touch anyone who has the mark. Begin at my sanctuary.” So they began with the old men who were in front of the temple. Then he said to them, “Defile the temple and fill the courts with the slain. Go!” So they went out and began killing throughout the city.

    An order given by God himself, to slaughter an entire city for the grievous sin of not worshipping him. Not even the children were to be spared. And yes, like most stories in the Bible, it’s likely almost entirely bullshit, but the human cruelty it conveys, and the moral justification it provides, is all too real. And if you’ve ever dealt with any real religious nutjobs, like the snake-handling, tongues-speaking Baptists I grew up around, then you know that the human brain, when fueled by delusion, is more than capable of conjuring a perceived supernatural experience.