Dude, when, in all of human history, have people ever been totally rational and reasonable? You CAN'T divorce the moral and ethical traditions from the 'mysticism mumbojumbo'. That's exactly what the current woke crusade proves. Strip people of their myths and legends, and they will invent new ones to fill the gap (and those new ones are usually much worse and less time-tested than those they replace).

Stories and parables have deep meaning to people, whether that be Jesus feeding the multitudes or Rosa Parks sitting at the front of the bus. Whether or not either of these things actually happened in the way they are presented has absolutely no bearing on whether people believe them and act on them accordingly.

I'm sorry that man is not the creature you wish him to be, but you HAVE to deal with him as he is, otherwise you will always fail.