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Pastimes : Let's Talk About Our Feelings!!! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Michael M who wrote (48701)	8/3/1999 6:46:00 PM
From: jbe	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 108807

I like the thought in your last sentence but am not sure the two can be separated I presume you mean my distinction between "myths" as ideals towards which we strive, and "myths" as realities which we have achieved. Let me try to defend it. Ahem! Two points. 1) Reference was made some time back in this discussion to Joseph Campbell. Campbell, as you no doubt know, was something of a Jungian. He felt there were certain mythic themes common to all -- or most of -- humanity. He wrote a whole book about "The Hero," for example. The hero is an archetype, a symbol, a Platonic Idea, an ideal. Hercules was one embodiment; Jesus Christ was another. But no "mere mortal" can be a full embodiment of the Platonic Idea; he can only be a reflection of it, foreshadowing some of its features. Now take George Washington, for example. I think that if children are told the story about the cherry tree, they should be made aware that it is no more "true" than the story about Hercules strangling snakes in his cradle. At the same time, there is no harm whatsoever in telling them that Washington inspired such myths, because he impressed so many of his countrymen with his "heroic" qualities. 2) Another example: the American "dream", or the American "myth." In my opinion, it would be better to talk about the American ideal. There is absolutely no harm -- indeed much good, it seems to me, in instilling what we think of as characteristically American ideals into children. The harm comes when we teach them that we have always been succesful putting those ideals into practice. For example, "liberty and justice for all" is an American ideal. At the same time, we did practice slavery and segregation. Is it "slandering" our past to suggest that in this area, at least, we fell short of our ideal? I think not. The difference is between what I call an "energizing myth" (one that is embodied in ideals that spur to positive action) and a "protective myth" (one that people use to distort reality -- an "ideological" myth, to use another term). As for the Wonder Bra, I'm not even going to touch that one! <g> Joan