I was reading Steve Arterburn's Daily Devotion, and became very interested in present day social myths. Looking around the Internet, I found this article, which I feel sums up the way of the world very succinctly:
Power of Images: Creating the Myths of Our Time
Myth #1: The world is a dangerous place and we need guns, police and military to protect us.
Power of Images: Creating the Myths of Our Time
Myth #1: The world is a dangerous place and we need guns, police and military to protect us.
Myth #2: Leave it to the experts (who are usually white men).
Myth #3: The good life consists of buying possessions that cost lots of money.
Myth #4: Happiness, satisfaction and sex appeal, just to name a few, are imminent-and available with the next consumer purchase.
Myth #5: Your body is not good enough.
Myth #6: Businesses and corporations are concerned for the public welfare.
"What’s more dangerous: a lie or a half-truth? Without doubt, it’s the half-truth. John F. Kennedy said, “The enemy of the truth is very often not the lie—deliberate, contrived, and dishonest, but the myth—persistent, persuasive, and unrealistic.”
"Despite the common perception that we’re a people “come of age,” our culture remains inundated with half-truths—modern myths most people believe implicitly, and become offended when called into question.
"Here [are] just a few examples: 1) People, at heart, are basically good; 2) The world’s getting better; 3) Technological progress is the key to our happiness and well-being.
"We love these myths because they give us hope. Yet that’s precisely why they’re so dangerous: they keep our hope securely misplaced—that is, on something other than Jesus Christ, our only true hope.
“A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes. - Mark Twain (1835 - 1910)"
(from The Myths We Believe, by Steve Arterburn)
The symbols and images we are bombarded with each day are very powerful, full of deceit, and why shouldn't they be? They come directly from the great deceiver, the liar, who promenades as a being of light. His minions are powerful social engineers, and they utilize our media. They quite literally suck us in.
Oh, Keep Me Lord, Keep Me, that I may observe your Law and keep it at the core of my heart for an entire lifetime!
29 Remove the false way from me, And graciously grant me Your law.
30 I have chosen the faithful way; I have placed Your ordinances before me.
31 I cling to Your testimonies; O LORD, do not put me to shame!
32 I shall run the way of Your commandments, For You will enlarge my heart.
33 Teach me, O LORD, the way of Your statutes, And I shall observe it to the end.
34 Give me understanding, that I may observe Your law And keep it with all my heart.
35 Make me walk in the path of Your commandments, For I delight in it.
36 Incline my heart to Your testimonies And not to dishonest gain.
37 Turn away my eyes from looking at vanity, And revive me in Your ways.
38 Establish Your word to Your servant, As that which produces reverence for You.
39 Turn away my reproach which I dread, For Your ordinances are good.
40 Behold, I long for Your precepts; Revive me through Your righteousness.
Psalm 119:29-40
