Of Myths & Men
James Lindsay's Search for Love & Meaning Without God
An important book in my life journey in the Catholic faith has been Thomas Howard's Chance or the Dance? A Critique of Modern Secularism. What follows, however, is not a review of that title but a partial explication of James Lindsay's Life in Light of Death (Pitchstone Publishing, 2016) in light of Howard's book, as I believe that Lindsay proves Howard's thesis. In Chance or the Dance, Howard states:
When, under the fluorescent glare of the laboratory lights, the old myth [that everything means everything] died and the new myth (that nothing means anything) took over, men, without realizing what they were doing, kept on behaving and speaking of their experience as though everything meant everything. That is, their new myth told them that things are impersonal and abstract. They don't mean anything; they are. The method that led to the new myth was called the scientific method. . . . [W]e modern men have accepted the sovereignty of the new myth. We bow to the edict (Science Is All) and then believe it. But, all the while, all unaware, we keep the old myth alive. (emphases in original)
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Brian Dunne is a former elementary/middle school teacher of 22 years, the first 15 in public schools, the last 7 in Catholic schools. He holds an MA in Catholic Thought and Life from St. Meinrad School of Theology, and an MA in counseling psychology from Boston College. For the past four years he has worked for a major online retailer, and he is currently working on a script for a satirical movie about science, technology, and medicine.
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