"The only difference is that religion is much better organised and has been around much longer, but it's the same story with different characters and different costumes"

James Randi draws attention to the enduring patterns present in religion throughout history, emphasizing that while religions may appear unique on the surface, they often share foundational similarities. He points out that religion distinguishes itself from other belief systems or stories primarily through its organization and longevity. Over centuries, religious institutions have constructed intricate frameworks, rituals, hierarchies, and elaborate narratives that have enabled them to persist and influence vast populations across generations.

Despite these differences in structure and endurance, the content at the heart of these religious systems has much in common with other narratives found in human culture. Myths, legends, and folklore from countless civilizations often revolve around larger-than-life figures, moral lessons, origin stories, and supernatural events, elements similarly present in religious scriptures and traditions. The “different characters and different costumes” Randi mentions are emblematic of how each religion adapts these recurring motifs to fit specific cultural, historical, or geographical contexts. Whether it is gods, prophets, angels, demons, or saints, each religious system populates its stories with archetypes familiar across the human experience, albeit with distinctive names and attributes shaped by the society in which they arose.

Randi’s comparison is not meant to trivialize religion but to highlight its narrative function. Just as tales of heroes, villains, and miracles offer frameworks for understanding the world and imparting moral values, so too do religious stories. The primary distinction is that religions have systematized these stories into formal structures with defined doctrines, rituals, and codes of conduct, lending them an enduring authority and social gravitas absent from many secular stories.

This perspective invites a more anthropological appreciation of religion as a fundamental aspect of storytelling in human societies, evolving and persisting because of its capacity to resonate with the psychological and communal needs shared across cultures and eras.