A Short History of Myth by Karen Armstrong, author of Fields of Blood and Religion https://realini.blogspot.com/2023/09/fields-of-blood-and-religion-by-karen.html and other astounding books - 10 out of 10

 

A Short History of Myth by Karen Armstrong, author of Fields of Blood and Religion https://realini.blogspot.com/2023/09/fields-of-blood-and-religion-by-karen.html and other astounding books

 

10 out of 10

 

 

Karen Armstrong is one of my favorite authors, ever since I have read in The Economist that she is the ultimate expert on religion, I have read close to ten books signed by her, two in the past few months, including the aforementioned Fields and A Short History of Islam https://realini.blogspot.com/2023/10/islam-short-history-by-karen-armstrong.html

 

I am thus somewhat familiar with the importance of myths, which have been there for millennia, they have become a sort of synonym for fabricated stories, and that is terrible, Karen Armstrong insists that the rejection of myths may have (or does she say obviously, I could not remember) set back our ‘progress’ and we are worse off

During the Axial Age, between the eighth and worse the third centuries BCE, humans have been more spiritual than today, arguably, after reading A Short History of Myth, we are behind that period, in spite (or because) of the atomic bomb which was brought on by Oppenheimer https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2023/12/oppenheimer-based-on-book-by-kai-bird.html

 

There are some ideas that are left with me, such as The Trinity notion, that somehow was not agreeable (surely, there is a different word for what he felt, but, hey, this is what came to mind) to Isaac Newton, only Karen Armstrong explains that the myth was intended to make clear that we could not think of God as one

Those who harm Christianity more than atheists, satanists and the like would be the Creationists, the fundamentalists that insist on the ‘Absolute Truth’ of the bible, one (well, actually, too many) of them sit in the highest offices in America and elsewhere – this Mike Johnson is one, and if not purely Creationist, he is damn close

 

For them, if the bible says the world is, what, six thousand years old, then that is exactly the age of the planet, and if God created everything within seven days, according to the same holy book, then that is it, forget geology, science, paleontology and anything else, and this is so absurd, that it makes multitudes shudder…

The way to read these holy texts is to understand the significance and think that they are Mythical, written at a time when people communicated with tales, another example in the book is how the Koran must be ‘recited’, it is something to absorb in private, it is not a common experience, in needs a sort of transcendence

 

I am not convinced though, and think now of a few examples, one would be Magister Ludi Kingsley Amis https://realini.blogspot.com/2023/03/lucky-jim-by-kingsley-amis-author-of.html one of my three favorite writers, who said that ‘he not so much does not believe in Him, but he hates Him’, when asked about the ‘Great Sculptor and Colorist’

On the other hand, there would be CS Lewis, who argued that ‘you either believe that Jesus was the son of God, or that he was the greatest fraud’, and he has arguments in favor of faith, like Anselm, the idea of perfection, then finding the watch and realizing that it was ‘intelligent design’, even if you do not see the maker…

 

Nathaniel Branden was the most esteemed authority on self -esteem – the book The Six Principles of Self-Esteem is a classic – but he also wrote another marvelous work, The Psychological Effects of Religion, in which he explains the calamities provoked by it https://realini.blogspot.com/2016/04/psychological-effects-of-religion-by.html

The Economist has an article posted these days, with the best reads on religious matters, and a look at how God got so interested in sex, especially between men, and how in ancient times, that was not so important, it became so after some centuries in our era, and it still seems preposterous that such a mighty one would be concerned with this

 

If we read some or all of the books recommended by The Economist, then we see that the seven deadly sins were eight, one was dropped, and with the centuries passing, attitudes have changed, we have democracies making up democratic systems in heaven, and the tyrannies opting for their own replicas in the other world

The article is entitled What to read to understand God and Sex, and it also hints at the recent controversy over the pope’s lenient attitude versus gay couples – he is not ready to offer a general amnesty and benediction, but he has caused a backlash – just like with his loathsome suggestion that Ukraine picks up the white flag

 

As so often, The Economist journalist is not just informative, he is also amusing, stating that Greek and Roman Gods had another chief problem with sex ‘when they could not get enough of it’, and the new deity of the Christians baffled the intellectuals with the ‘shameless curiosity, who watched man’s every act and judged it’

Finally, I want to put in a word about some other myths, explained in the stupendous Stumbling On Happiness https://realini.blogspot.com/2013/06/stumbling-on-happiness-by-david-gilbert.html by Harvard Professor Daniel Gilbert, who writes about Hedonic Adaptation, how we are sure that we would be happy, if only we were to move to California, some Caribbean, or Pacific Island, but once in such a coveted state, or place, we…adapt, and stop noticing the marvelous palm trees, beaches, and moan about huge bills, traffic jams, hurricanes and other nuisances, or even calamities, the same with having millions of dollars…

 

Now for my standard closing of the note with a question, and invitation – maybe you have a good idea on how we could make more than a million dollars with this http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/02/unique-in-world.html?q=unique+in+the+world – as it is, this is a unique technique, which we could promote, sell, open the Oscars show with or something and then make lots of money together, if you have the how, I have the product, I just do not know how to get the befits from it, other than the exercise per se

 

 There is also the small matter of working for AT&T – this huge company asked me to be its Representative for Romania and Bulgaria, on the Calling Card side, which meant sailing into the Black Sea wo meet the US Navy ships, travelling to Sofia, a lot of activity, using my mother’s two bedrooms flat as office and warehouse, all for the grand total of $250, raised after a lot of persuasion to the staggering $400…with retirement ahead, there are no benefits, nothing…it is a longer story, but if you can help get the mastodont to pay some dues, or have an idea how it can happen, let me know

 

As for my role in the Revolution that killed Ceausescu, a smaller Mao, there it is http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/realini-in-newsweek-participant-in.html

 

Some favorite quotes from To The Hermitage and other works

 

‘Fiction is infinitely preferable to real life...As long as you avoid the books of Kafka or Beckett, the everlasting plot of fiction has fewer futile experiences than the careless plot of reality...Fiction's people are fuller, deeper, cleverer, more moving than those in real life…Its actions are more intricate, illuminating, noble, profound…There are many more dramas, climaxes, romantic fulfillment, twists, turns, gratified resolutions…Unlike reality, all of this you can experience without leaving the house or even getting out of bed…What's more, books are a form of intelligent human greatness, as stories are a higher order of sense…As random life is to destiny, so stories are to great authors, who provided us with some of the highest pleasures and the most wonderful mystifications we can find…Few stories are greater than Anna Karenina, that wise epic by an often foolish author…’

 

‚Parturiunt montes, nascetur ridiculus mus’

 

“From Monty Python - The Meaning of Life...Well, it's nothing very special...Try and be nice to people, avoid eating fat, read a good book every now and then, get some walking in, and try and live together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and nations.”