“Look, I know you think there are no gods—” “Perhaps they do exist. I want to know why they act as if they… — Terry Pratchett

“That’s unfair!” said Daphne.

“No, it’s science,” said her father. “‘Could have’ isn’t good enough. Nor is ‘might have’! ‘Did’ is the trick.”

No one stuck up their hands and there was no voting, but she thought, I wonder if it was like this in ancient Athens? This is pure democracy. People don’t just get a vote; they have a say.

“What about the hangman? Doesn’t he do murder, then?”

[No, because enough people say it isn’t. That’s what a courtroom is for. It’s where the law happens.]

“And that makes it right? Didn’t God say, ‘Thou shalt not kill’?”

[Yes. But after that it got complicated.]