excuse me while I'm bitter....

[rivendellrose]

The following is a quote from "American Scientist" online:

Just what do we mean by myth, anyway? Popular usage equates the term with falsehood—common misconceptions are labeled "myths" ("It's a myth that lightning never strikes twice in the same place"), and ancient myths such as the story of the Egyptian god Osiris are recognized not to be literally true. But myths that are stories may be intended to impart a message. The biblical story of Job, for example, is a moral homily on persevering in the face of tragedies and travails. In such a case, it could be argued that the story is simply a vehicle of delivery whose truth or falsity is not at issue.

The full article (a review on a book purporting to find the 'truth' behind myths) is available here, but that's not really what I want to talk about. What I want to talk about is the inherent value judgment in the examples the author uses right there in the introduction to his review.

"Ancient myths such as the story of the Egyptian god Osiris" are not "literally true." Okay, I'm with him so far - they're not, and I don't expect anyone to say they are. "But myths that are stories may be intended to impart a message." I'm totally with him here. The comparison now is between "myths that are stories" and his earlier example of the 'myth' that lightning never strikes the same place twice. That's all good.

Next point: "The biblical story of Job, for example, is a moral homily on persevering in the face of tragedies and travails. In such a case, it could be argued that the story is simply a vehicle of delivery whose truth or falsity is not at issue." Interesting turn, isn't it? The ancient myth of Osiris is his example of something that's not literally true, but rather than continue and explain the potential moral lessons behind that myth (and believe me, there are some), he moves straight to the Bible for an example of a myth that "may be intended to impart a message." There's an implication here, whether intentional or not, that the meanings of the ancient myths either don't impart messages, or that people nowadays don't care about those messages. Yeah, I know, not everybody knows the myth of Osiris, but for crying out loud, would it be so hard, for just once, to admit that a system of myth other than the Bible has some credence? Would it be so hard to give older myths their due?

And just in case you were wondering, no, that's not what the book he's reviewing does - instead, it digs for the literal truth that might lie behind myths like Beowulf - the example with that story is the stench of the decomposing body in an old barrow where gold might be found, and where the gases released upon opening the tomb (from the decomposition of the bodies, again) might cause flame to burst forth if the grave robbers were carrying torches.

So, just to recap, we look for literal truth behind ancient myths (and, one presumes, discard them if they don't have any), and moral truth behind Christian myth. Just, you know, in case you were getting confused or something.

Comments

[narsilion.livejournal.com]

*gives you 15 minutes alone with him to give him a piece of your mind* .....and gleefully hides close enough to listen to you giving him "what for"

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

Needless to say, I didn't get to bed as early as I'd meant to last night. Nothing someone maligning ancient mythology to make me lose sleep. *Sighs*

[narsilion.livejournal.com]

How's Claire doing, any luck with her yet?

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

The fact that I couldn't reply to this last night is probably a good sign. She's still being kind of a bitch. I started copying files onto CDs last night, so that when I get a copy of XP I'll be ready.

[zhapper.livejournal.com]

Scientists have their own religion which often causes them to behave like blundering fools when they go dabbling in other people's. I suspect that the person involved in writing the article avoided trying to prove the literal truths behind the bible not due to a particular adherance to the supposed superiority of the biblical stories, but because it is considered bad form and dangerous for one's career to muck about in proving the bible correct. It often causes scientists to be labeled "creationists" and that is that for their careers.

This person took the easy way out by avoiding the specifics for Christian myth and digging into the fun stuff for mythology that is less partisan and less likely to be screamed about in midwestern and southern parts of this country.

Anyway, moving on to more relevant things that I'm qualified to talk about, would you like me to take a look at your computer? I have a few ideas about why it's locking up and a lot of free time lately.

[zhapper.livejournal.com]

I sound like a bit of a pedant, don't I? Hmmm. Well, bleah. It really is too bad that christianity is such a touchy thing in this culture. People really need to realize that their faith isn't going to go away just because someone questions it. C.S. Lewis knew it and so should all these supposed Christians that have been so up in arms in the last 20-30 years. It makes me wonder if Jesus has become more fashion and fad than faith.

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

It's crazy. I don't give a fuck about people trying to prove literal 'truth' behind Christianity, because I can easily see that there's historical basis behind some of the stuff - where I get lost is the supposed huge spiritual significance. It doesn't connect, to me. What pisses me off is when people tiptoe around Christianity and then do whatever the hell they want with other religions. I try not to develop any kind of martyr complex about it, but I really feel sometimes that I'm the only person who gives a fuck about the fact that the mythologies people regard as amusing little stories are equivalent to the Bible in depth, morality, and age.

I'm planning to reformat and get her on a new OS as soon as possible, anyway (I've been running ME way too long), but it might be nice to have her more consistently working until I get everything set for that. I think the guy I've been seeing wants to have a look at it when we get together on friday, but if he can't figure it out I'll definitely get in touch with you!

[lokapala.livejournal.com]

Um. I was passing by, but... well, what you said about Bible vs other mythologies? So true. Just so that you know you're not alone =)

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

Thanks! It's always good to have a bit of validation on one's thoughts.