“I believe I am called here to speak of our times. From a darker era of fear and magical thinking, we move toward an age of reason. Landis was beloved, is still beloved, because he claims he can protect us from mythical beasts that prowl the swamps at the edge of our understanding. Perhaps he does protect us. Some of us. But in this courtroom he alleges he has lost his capacity to make out the difference between myth and fact.
Here, in Landis' criminal trial he claims temporary insanity as a defense, while he simultaneously claims faith protects believers from evil in the Universe. Oh, the irony and the pity! Consider the contrast between expectations and reality.(Hemingway).
