Religion is empty, self-help is helpless, and behavior modification is impossible. No amount of Hail-Marys or Our Fathers can make up for even one sin. No visitation to a human priest in confession can expunge one’s record. We cannot go on a pilgrimage to Mecca or fast piously during Ramadan to dial back our guilt. We cannot knock on enough doors as the Jehovah’s Witnesses do to erase one tally mark of transgression. The
