1.1.0 Myths from History

The term “myth” can be used in two distinct senses: in the pejorative sense, a myth is an idea that, while widely believed, is false, failing to correspond with reality. In a deeper sense, the religious sense, a “Myth” serves as an orienting and mobilising story for a people, a story that reminds them who they are and why they do what they do. When a story is a Myth in this sense, the focus is not on the story's relation to reality but on its function. A Myth cannot function within a community or nation unless it is believed to be true. Moreover, the Myth is usually taken on faith to be true. If some people have the bad taste to question the truth of the Sacred Story, the keepers of the faith do not enter into debate with them. Rather, they ignore them or denounce them as blasphemers.

Myths permeate the whole history of humanity. In the ancient world, the most prevalent myths were polytheistic - that is, the myths were about a multitude of gods that served to unite a society. For example, there is Egyptian mythology, Greek mythology, and Roman mythology. The truth of the stories about the gods was generally taken on faith. Now, we know that these myths were mostly elaborate fabrications based on a series of falsehoods; that is, we now know that these examples are myths in both senses of the word.

Philosophy-based religions such as Judaism, Christianity and Islam are also filled with myths. The Bible, for example, has proved to be false in many places - for example The Garden of Eden, The Exodus of Moses, The Miracles of Jesus. Although the religion itself is still widely followed, it is now understood to be at least partially allegorical; few people would argue that the Bible is an authority when it comes to historical truth.

Most stories that have served as Myths cannot stand up to rational scrutiny. When such a story is stripped of its halo and treated simply as a theory, rather than an unquestionable dogma, it cannot be defended as the best theory to account for the relevant facts. The Scientific Revolution revealed to us that not only is Christianity a Myth in the religious sense, it is also a myth in the pejorative sense. As such, the myth no longer functions as effectively in society.

More modern myths generally relate to nationalism, rather than belief in a divine spirit. The most obvious example of a modern myth comes from Germany between 1933 and 1945. The Nazis were elected on the basis that they were working for the good of the people, protecting them external threats and extolling "good German values": this was their religious myth. In general, the German population believed the myth was true and supported the Nazis, or were indifferent or silent. The myth succeeded mostly because of the control of information and the use of propaganda. While most people were oblivious, some did question Nazi policies and attempt to expose atrocities committed by them, but they were mostly ignored, ridiculed or denounced as unpatriotic. The propaganda created a series of myths that made the idea of the Nazis carrying out mass murder against its own citizens seem unthinkable. A key part of manipulating public opinion was through carrying out false-flag attacks. After the end of German Nazism in 1945, the gulf between the religious myth that the Nazis were extolling good German values, and the truth of the reality, became clear. The Holocaust, the acts of the Gestapo and the SS, and the true motives and morals of the leaders were established; the German people could hardly believe that such horrific acts had taken place under their very noses for years.

"The bigger the lie, the more people will be inclined to believe it"
- Adolf Hitler

It is clear then, that the following are two very important lessons that history teaches us:

1. Religious Myths are used to control populations, and quite often, these Myths have little or no basis in reality.
2. To support the religious Myths, and more specifically to justify overseas wars and increased domestic control, false-flag terrorism is a popular technique.

However, these lessons are not emphasised by history teaching in schools. Instead, these important aspects of the past are treated as relics of an age gone by, as distant from today's society as armies fighting with bronze swords. We look back at early cultures that have believed religious myths to be true with a sense that they were "childish" and "foolish"; we look back at Nazi Germany and believe we have an understanding of the techniques of information control and propaganda that were employed, but we believe that we have learned to distinguish true fact ("science") from fairy stories. We suppose that modern media could never be so controlled, and that, in the 21st century, such monstrous myths could not be upheld; we believe we would not fall for it.

And the nature and dangers of false-flag attacks, despite being a relatively simple and extremely practical lesson of history, is usually overlooked. The burning of Rome is presented as an ancient "trick", and the burning of the Reichstag is presented as being a policy employed by people only as evil as the Nazis. The most basic message of all is lost:

When a war is being justified by a terrorist attack, we should ask ourselves "Was it a false flag attack?"

Next Page: False-Flag Attacks