Damned Dogmas.

• Position: List - Brief article

Penn Jillette-the self-described "taller, louder haft" of the magic-and-comedy duo Penn &Teller-is an internationally known illusionist famous for exposing how magic tricks work. He and Teller also co-host the Showtime series Bullshit!, a program devoted to debunking irrational and unscientific thinking. We asked him to list the three dogmas that hurt Americans most.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

1 God exists. Imagine how boss the right wing would be without the religion stuff making them bug-nutty. Without God, even Glenn Beck isn't all that crazy.

2 Most people are evil. One has to looklong and hard for a truly bad person. Imagine how groovy the left wing would be if they just trusted most people to take care of themselves and each other. Without cynicism, even Michael Moore isn't all that ... oh, never...