User:Ed Poor/Myths

Myths are ideas which people no longer believe. Generally they have been discarded because science has discovered more credible explanations for things. The term "myth" as used in Wikipedia articles is a matter of controversy, with some of our contributors asserting that the word has a neutral and objective scholarly definition. Other contributors feel that the term "myth" connotes superstition, ignorance, or anti-scientific bias.

Points of agreement
Ancient cosmology, as described in narratives having no modern support, seems to be okay to describe as "myth" or "mythology". No one here minds if we say,
 * Greek mythology is the body of myths from ancient Greece.

Points of disagreement
The Genesis account of creation, however, is controversial. A significant number of Wikipedians object to our describing this ancient cosmology as any sort of myth. Their basic argument is that myth connotes falsehood, and that our use of the term in article titles is the same as saying, "This article is about the false belief that God created ..." and they object to our calling that belief false. Their suggestion is that we step back from evaluating the truth of falsity of this belief in any way.
 * In particular, they want a word like "account" to be used instead of "myth" on the grounds that account carries no connotation whatsoever about truth of falsity.

Another, possibly more influential group of Wikipedians, feels that using the word "myth" in article titles or article text to refer to the belief that God created anything is perfectly all right. They say that myth in scholarly circles does not connote falsity.
 * On this grounds, they argue that we should continue to use the word "myth" in article titles, such as Genesis creation myth.