 So religion, it might be argued, must be the highest value for Leibowitz to which all others are subordinated in times of conflict; it need not be the only value. Religious values just cannot be subordinated to ethical values which, since dictated by human interests for Leibowitz, are profane by definition. Ethics, as Leibowitz notes, is the “atheistic category par excellence” (Judaism, 18), placing man at the apex of our values in place of God. In contrast: