FROM SOMETHING AS INNOCUOUS AS SENDING A TELEVANGELIST MONEY TO RECEIVE A VIAL OF BLESSED WATER IN THE MAIL, TO THE HORROR AND DESTRUCTION OF A SUICIDE BOMBER, HUMAN BEINGS...BELIEVE.
AFTER PURE SURVIVAL – FOOD, SHELTER AND LIFE/DEATH EXISTENCE – LIFE ON PLANET EARTH IS A LOT ABOUT THE QUEST FOR MEANING. BELIEF – IN YOUR GOD, YOUR COUNTRY, YOUR COMPANY, YOUR TEAM, OR YOUR CAUSE – CAN MOVE MOUNTAINS AND DRIVE US TO EPIC LENGTHS; SOME GOOD, SOME NOT.
FEW WORDS ARE AS MISUNDERSTOOD AS "MYTH.” WHEN WE HEAR IT, MANY TEND TO THINK OF ZEUS, APOLLO, OR CHARACTERS AND IDEAS THAT SEEM ABSURD IN TODAY’S WORLD. BUT THE TRUTH IS THAT MYTH PERMEATES OUR THINKING EVEN NOW, OFTEN WITHOUT US EVEN KNOWING IT. AND MYTH DOESN’T MEAN “NOT TRUE.” IT MEANS THERE ARE DIFFERENT TYPES OF TRUTH.
MYTHS ARE STORIES THAT HELP US MAKE SENSE OF THE RANDOM NATURE OF LIFE. AS HUMAN BEINGS WE HAVE SEEN EVIL; WE HAVE SEEN THE STRUGGLE FOR LIFE ON OUR PLANET; AND KNOW WE WILL DIE. MYTH GIVES US ANSWERS IN 2017 AS MUCH AS EVER BEFORE.
AND AS AMERICA BECOMES MORE POLARIZED AND CONTENTIOUS, WE TEND TO REACH BACK TO OUR DEEP-SEEDED NOTIONS OF REALITY, AND HOW THINGS “SHOULD BE.”
BE IT GUN CONTROL, IMMIGRATION, RELIGION, GENDER AND SEXUALITY, WAR, GLOBAL WARMING, OR THE MOTHER OF ALL SOCIAL ISSUES – RACE -- OUR ATTITUDES ARE INFLUENCED BY MYTH. MYTHIC NOTIONS OF HOW TO LIVE, HOW TO VOTE, AND HOW TO THINK ...PERMEATE OUR MINDS.
IF IT’S SOMETHING WE “JUST KNOW,” THEN NO MOUNTAIN OF EVIDENCE IN THE OTHER DIRECTION WILL CHANGE OUR MINDS. WE POSSESS IDEAS AND OPINIONS THAT WE CONSIDER TO BE FACTS, AND HAVE TROUBLE COMPREHENDING WHY OTHERS SEE IT DIFFERENTLY. AND WE CAN BE MORE THAN WILLING TO IMPOSE OUR TRUTH ON OTHERS, BECAUSE IT IS OUR GOD-GIVEN DUTY; EVEN IN AN ERA OF SCIENCE AND REASON.
BUT IS IT POSSIBLE THAT OUR VIEW OF REALITY, MUCH LIKE A FISH INSIDE A CURVED GLASS BOWL, MAY BE DISTORTED? DUE TO MESSAGES WE HAVE LEARNED – FROM OUR PARENTS, FROM OUR INSTITUTIONS, FROM THE MEDIA – OUR TAKE ON REALITY MAY BE FIRM, BUT MISTAKEN.
IN THIS TEN PART SERIES, WE WILL COME TO SEE HOW MYTH WORKS IN THE MINDS OF AMERICANS; AND ULTIMATELY WHAT COULD BE AT STAKE OVER OUR BELIEFS.
