Mythology

As a modern scientific civilization, we used to think that we had put mythology behind us. Myths were simply fictional morality tales, a “primitive” form of literature. We did not depend on gods and demons, but on facts and logic. Not for us the strange and inexplicable rites of lesser cultures..

Of course, we found we were wrong. An open mind in an open society merely lets us pick and choose among the many mythologies available. In other cultures, you often do not get to choose. But we all live by mythology just the same .

It has been painful to watch the erosion of “fact and logic” over the last decades. People now believe “influencers” as they used to believe astrologers or witch doctors. They attend cable news as they used to go to religious service. Belief is founded on just-so stories and wishes and selected fragments of reality. In this environment, the masses seem to be as easily led as peasants in medieval Europe .

Human nature. Not easily tamed. We must believe in something. And if the reasons for belief in anything are questioned, all bets are off .

So this civilization is not the civilization I thought it was. The current mythologies are darker and more blood drenched. An open mind in an open society has gone with the wind .