Ten Modern Myth Conceptions

Slaughtering Secular Sacred Cows:

Ten Modern Myth Conceptions 

By Dr. Tom Snyder, Editor

Today’s secular society (and its proponents) has many legends and lies that are treated like sacred cows. Secular-oriented liberals, leftists, atheists, and libertarians often like to spout these legends and lies as a way to cut off debate. Many of these secular sacred cows may sound very good when you first hear them, but a simple rational, logical, factual investigation will show how wrong, irrational and false these figurative bovines really are.

I have compiled a list of about ten major secular sacred cows, plus some arguments that refute them, often beyond a shadow of a doubt. Here, then, are my refutations of ten of these modern myth conceptions:

Myth No. 1:  There is no absolute truth.

The first sacred cow of modern secular liberalism and atheism is the myth conception, “There is no absolute truth.”

This lie is easily dismissed, because it’s self-contradictory and, hence, completely irrational and false on its face. All you have to do to know that is to ask, “Is that an absolute truth” and “Do you believe it absolutely?” Writing that there is no absolute truth is as stupid as writing “I can’t write a word in English.”

Thus, we can know for absolutely certain that there is at least one, and probably many more, absolute truths on which we can hang our beliefs, or worldview, including our religious and political beliefs. These truths transcend race, sex, class, nation, culture, and ethnicity.

Myth No. 2:  There are no moral absolutes.

The second myth conception is the statement, “There are no moral absolutes.”

This “big lie” can also be rather easily dismissed, because what the person making this statement is really telling us is that, since there are no moral absolutes, then no one SHOULD ever believe that there are any moral absolutes. This, of course, is also inherently self-contradictory and, therefore, false. Why? Because, at the same time the person is telling you there are no moral absolutes, he’s asserting his own moral absolute, that everybody should obey the morality he’s promoting – namely, that people should not believe in moral absolutes.

Myth No. 3:  There is no transcendent meaning to anything.

The third myth conception is actually a rather long argument, but can be stated like this:

“Words have more than one meaning, and those meanings are arbitrary and subjective. Thus, the meanings are selected at random, and this selection varies from person to person and from culture to culture. Therefore, language is inherently ambiguous, and all interpretations of what something means are virtually, if not completely, subjective, unreliable and contradictory, and depend on who has the most power to enforce his or her particular, idiosyncratic interpretation.”

There are several arguments that can refute this lie.

First of all, while there is indeed an arbitrary, subjective nature to words, meanings, language, speech, and writing, the physical universe, the human brain, human thought, and human behaviors (whether you believe they’ve been created by God or not) follow and even obey certain transcendent, objective laws like the basic laws of logic (which are eternal, unchangeable, non-material, and independent), including the Law of Identity (A is A), the Law of Non-Contradiction (A is not Non-A)and the Law of the Excluded Middle (A is either True or False). This suggests that there is indeed an objective, transcendent basis to words, meaning, language, and interpretation, not a relative, arbitrary and ambiguous one.

Consequently, for example, the word “truth” in English has an objective, transcendent meaning that applies to everything in the physical universe, the human brain, human thought, and human behaviors. Also, the word “verdad” in Spanish and the word “pravda” in Russian mean essentially the very same thing as the English word “truth.”

Secondly, despite the subjective, arbitrary aspect of words and the meanings attached to them, the multiple meanings of words can be limited and objectified by putting them into a sentence. Thus, the word “table” in the sentence “Put that vase on this table” versus the sentence “The water table is low” mean completely different things that are fully understandable.

Thus, contrary to those who spout this third lie, we can indeed know the meaning of words, especially the meaning of words in sentences and paragraphs, and interpretation is not really that subjective, unreliable or contradictory. Only an undisciplined or unstable mind, and poor or evil writers and poor or evil speakers, present confusing, contradictory or false meanings and interpretations. We can judge their failures and find the correct meanings and interpretations by examining the text of the specific words, language, passages, or even whole books, for ourselves.

Myth No. 4:  There is no one way to live.

The fourth myth conception is the assertion, “There is really no one way to live or believe. Therefore, no one should ask other people to live like them or believe like them. Consequently, we should live and let live, and let other people ‘do their own thing,’ so long as they don’t physically hurt anyone else.”

You can see this fourth big lie in the debates over homosexuality. For example, I’ve run into homosexual activists, either in person or in print or vocal communication, who get very angry when Bible-believing Christians tell them they should not live a homosexual lifestyle because it’s immoral, and God condemns homosexual behavior in the Bible. Basically, their arguments (stripped of all their vitriol) boil down to this, “What you say is intolerant and hateful. There is no one way to live or believe, and, except for things like incest, bigamy, adultery, pedophilia, or bestiality, there is no one proper way to engage in sexual activity. So, stop trying to force me to live one way or believe like you believe.”

Of course, like Myth Conceptions 1 and 2 above, this argument is self-contradictory and, hence false, because the homosexual activist is really telling everyone else how to live and how to believe. In effect, he’s telling everyone else, especially the Bible-believing Christian, to believe like him, forget what God says in the Bible, and totally accept and even celebrate homosexual behavior (including same-sex “marriage”) as perfectly normal and positive. In effect, he’s telling everyone else, “There’s really no one way to live or believe, except for what I believe about homosexual behavior.”

Thus, the argument above is like saying, “There’s really no one way to God.” In fact, at the same time the multicultural liberal “pluralist” says, “There’s really no one way to God,” he’s ordering everyone that they MUST believe and MUST follow his own ONE truth that there’s no one way to God, and, therefore, they SHOULD get rid of any idea that there is indeed only one way to God, especially any idea that the only way to God and eternal life is through Jesus Christ and His Gospel of repentance of sin, forgiveness of sin, deliverance from sin, salvation, redemption, and eternal life. To say that “there is really no one way to God” is an irrational verbal trick designed to pull the wool over your eyes and make you accept a belief that truly makes no logical sense.

Myth No. 5:  Science is the best, or only, way to know real truth.

The fifth myth conception or big lie is the statement, “Science is the best, or only, way to know real truth.”

This article is not meant to attack science, but this statement is one of the silliest concepts ever invented by the human brain and mind, or the scientific snob. In the first place, science itself depends inherently on properly using the basic laws of logic. Thus, properly using the basic laws of logic is probably the better way of knowing real truth, and science absolutely depends on it!

While good science is a very good way of determining truth, it’s not the only way, or even the best way. In fact, not only are the laws of logic a very good way of determining truth, but so is the study of history in all its various forms, including archeology and anthropology. Ultimately, so is the Bible, because, if it is indeed the very Word of God or at least contains the very Word of God, including God’s message to all human beings, then studying the Bible is like studying the writings of the best scientific, historical and philosophical “experts.” In fact, it’s probably even better!!!

Myth No. 6:  Evolution, including human evolution, is a proven scientific fact.

The sixth myth conception is the statement, “Evolution, including human evolution, is a proven scientific fact.”

It would take a whole book, and probably several books, to refute this big lie. Suffice it to say, however, that there are now thousands of scientists and scientific “experts” who don’t believe this lie, and some of them have written very erudite, scholarly and scientific books and articles about it. For some of the best in-depth rebuttals of evolution, you may go to “Rebuttals Against Evolution” at the website page http://www.godandscience.org/evolution/evolution_rebuttals.html.

Also, after studying the theories and “evidence” of human evolution, I can say with certainty right now that there is no evidence whatsoever that humans, or homo sapiens and homo sapiens sapiens, including their art and religious beliefs, are in any way biologically and mentally related to the other “earlier” so-called “hominid” species paleontologists say they have found. In fact, as I proved in my book MYTH CONCEPTIONS (Baker Books, 1995), studies of the earliest religious beliefs on this planet show that a belief in one benevolent, moral God was indeed the very first religious belief among humans. This historical evidence lends support to the ancient biblical story of God’s interaction with the first humans, Adam and Eve, and their descendents, many of whom fell into idolatry, including animism, superstition, paganism, polytheism, and occultism.

Myth No. 7:  Faith and reason are mutually exclusive. Therefore, belief in God is irrational.

The seventh myth conception is the big lie that “Faith and reason are mutually exclusive. Thus, belief in God is not rational. Therefore, people who believe in God are not being rational. They aren’t even being reasonable.”

Well, in the first place, while there are certainly some irrational Christians and Jewish people out there, I have met many atheists and Non-Christians who also don’t seem very rational or logical.

Be that as it may, since the One True Creator God, if He really exists, would also have to be the eternal, transcendent author of eternal, transcendent reason and logic, then it’s hard to see why faith and reason or faith and logic have to be mutually exclusive. In fact, if God exists, then faith and reason (which includes the eternal, transcendent laws of logic) are a perfect match for one another!!!

Thus, it’s perfectly reasonable, rational and logical to consider, if not accept, the belief that Jesus Christ is the only begotten Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, one in Being with the Father; that through him all things were made; that for all people and for their salvation, He came down from heaven and, by the power of the Holy Spirit, was born of the Virgin Mary, and became man; that for our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; that he suffered, died and was buried; and, that on the third day he rose again in fulfillment of the Scriptures, ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father (see the Nicene Creed and the New Testament documents in the Bible). In fact, as the best biblical scholars and scholars of ancient history have proven beyond a reasonable doubt, there were many eyewitnesses to Jesus Christ’s crucifixion, death and physically resurrected body. Not only that, but the most important of these eyewitnesses, who also knew Him and His teachings the best of anyone, were tortured and/or died for their belief that what the New Testament books say about Jesus Christ and His life and teachings is true.

Myth No. 8:  The Bible is not reliable.

The eighth liberal myth leads us into the eighth myth conception, that the Bible is a book full of lies and contradictions.

First, there is no evidence that anyone invented the stories found in the Bible. In fact, the stories found in the Bible are historical accounts of two groups of people. The first group of people is the Hebrews or Israelites, including kings, prophets, poets, and historians, who lived, wrote, and read the books of the Hebrew Scriptures or Old Testament. The second group of people is the main Jewish eyewitnesses, and one Gentile eyewitness (Luke), who wrote the historical documents and letters of the New Testament.

Secondly, numerous scholars have examined the meaning of all the passages of the Bible and resolved the vast majority, if not all, of the seeming contradictions. For examine, one of the biggest problems cited is how many angels were inside Jesus Christ’s empty tomb when the women discovered it. The Gospel of Mark mentions one angel, but the Gospel of Luke says the women saw two angels. This is really no problem, however, because where there is one angel, there could be two angels. Mark is a shorter manuscript and focuses on just one of the two angels that spoke to them inside the tomb. Mark never says there was just one, and only one, angel. Even if he had, however, the primary point of these passages is that the tomb was empty, and Jesus Christ rose from the dead, just as he predicted he would. On that point, all of the New Testament gospels and documents agree.

Myth No. 9:  People should not interpret the Bible literally.

You’ve probably heard this ninth myth in one form or another. You usually hear it when someone complains, “Those ignorant Right-Wing Christians believe in the Bible literally.”

In the first place, a natural interpretation of ANY writing, not just the Bible, should be interpreted literally. All this means is that concrete language should be interpreted concretely and figurative language should be interpreted figuratively. Thus, it means that we interpret historical claims as historical claims, moral commands as moral commands, scientific language as scientific language, symbolic or figurative language as symbolic or figurative language, poetry as poetry, and parables and allegories as parables and allegories.

Thus, the Bible clearly says that Adam and Eve were historical people, the parents of the human race. Their story may have some symbolic and allegorical applications, as well as some ethical applications or implications, but there’s no real reason not to treat their story as an historical, factual story. Much of the poetry of the Song of Solomon, however, has a lot of figurative, symbolic, poetic language in it.

Myth No. 10:  You can’t legislate morality.

Whenever there’s a debate about a controversial social issue such as abortion or same-sex marriage, you’ll often hear secular liberals, leftists, atheists, or even libertarians exclaim, “You can’t legislate morality!”

This is another absurd, irrational claim that’s totally false. After all, what are laws against murder, stealing, libel, fraud, political campaign violations, or “hate crime” legislation if not legislating some kind of morality? Thus, the claim, “You can’t legislate morality” makes absolutely no sense, because that’s what laws ALWAYS do – legislate morality. This issue, therefore, is just a disagreement about whose morality, or which morality, shall be legislated.

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Ever since the insanity of radical liberalism and atheist humanism broke out in full bloom in the 1960s, we have been living in a Liberal/Secular Age of Stupidity. Liberals and secular humanists, including atheists and socialists, have been spreading many falsehoods, lies and myth conceptions ever since.

This article is intended to combat these myth conceptions, and help people be victorious in refuting them.