Remember "The Emperor’s New Clothes"? The Hans Christian Andersen story from when you were just a tiny tyke? The basic plot points: vain, half-wit emperor does business with swindlers. They convince him that they’ve made him a suit out of beautiful fabric and the great thing about the suit was that the stupid and unfit couldn’t see the fabric. As a result, it was an Instant Idiot Detector. The emperor himself couldn’t see any cloth but couldn’t allow for the possibility of his own idiocy so he pretends he could see it. And all his (sycophantic) ministers pretend they could see it.
The king processes through town and everybody pretends they can see it. Except for one little boy who calls out, "But he has nothing on!" Whereupon everyone gets a clue, except the emperor who continues on his regal, nekkid way.
What we were supposed to learn from the tale was that being prideful, cowardly and self-blinding is a bad thing.
"The white robes are the righteous acts of the saints!"
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