Honesty is the First Virtue
H
onesty is the first virtue in every relationship – and most importantly our relationship with our self.
Mythology is the
opposite
of honesty, because mythology provides the
appearance
of truth, which prevents us from actively continuing to
pursue
the truth.
In this section I will put forward the thesis that our existing relationships
are not primarily with each other, but with our own mythologies, with our own
stories
about our interactions with each other.
Mother Theresa used to say that she was not administering to the poor, but rather to
Christ in the poor
, which is a very different thing. Since Christ “the man-god who strolled the waves and came back from the dead” is a mere fantasy, Mother Theresa did not have a relationship with the poor as individuals, but rather with her own projected fantasy of “service” to a nonexistent deity. This is a form of spiritual “stalking.”
I may as well say that I do not have a relationship
with my girlfriend, but rather with the “leprechaun in my girlfriend.”
Clearly, if I say that, I am openly admitting that I do not have a relationship
with anyone or anything – outside my own fantasies of course.
“Not Even Wrong”
In the world of science
, the worst judgment that can be passed upon a theory is that it is “not even wrong” – in other words, it is so incomprehensible or self-contradictory that nothing can be even learned from its mistakes.
“
2 + 2 = 5” is wrong; “2 + blue = unicorn” is “not even wrong.”
If I am patriotic, then clearly I am not in love
with “the land” itself, since that is just earth and rock. I am not in love with the grass, or the trees, or the mountains or the clouds. I can say that I am in love with the
ideals
of the country that I live in, or its best and most virtuous principles – but clearly, those “ideals” exist
only as ideas within the minds of those around me
. If I say that I love “America,” I am really saying that I love
my fellow Americans
, since “America” is a concept, and has no real existence in the objective world.
Since
“America” does not exist, I cannot love it, any more than I can marry a leprechaun or send the concept of “children“” to school. Thus if I claim to love my fellow “Americans,” I am not claiming to love any particular individual for his specific virtues, but rather a general group in relation to a concept that does not exist.
Of course, a
“general group” is also a concept that does not exist in reality, and so when I claim to be patriotic, I am in fact expressing affection with regards to a generalized and abstract “group” (which does not in fact exist) in relation to a “country” (which does not in fact exist).
“
Patriotism” is thus a mythology which separates us as individuals, because the primary relationship of the patriot is to a projected abstraction, rather than to any individuals in particular. The patriot “loves” his fellow countrymen in the same way that Mother Teresa “loves” the poor – it is a narcissistic projection, not a mature acceptance of another individual soul.
The sad thing about this is that we cannot in fact have any relationships
to our mythologies, any more than we can soul-kiss our reflection in the mirror, or sit down with “the country” for nice cup of coffee and a chat.
Mythology always isolates – we can only meet in
reality
.