I wonder, what is the mythos of the US. A mythos is a model of the natural and supernatural universe. It is our core assumption of how the universe works. We believe that certain things are just true about the natural world.

The mythos is defined by a mythology, which is a set of stories and rituals that convey meaning.  Usually myths are stories that are made up.   But I think they can be true stories as well.

I was reading about Japanese Shinto. Shinto isn’t a religion, it is a mythos. There are numerous beliefs in Shinto, but there is nothing that can be pointed at exactly as Shinto. In Shinto there is a general way of concieving the universe.  It is a mindset. If Shinto were taken away from the Japanese they would cease to be truly Japanese.

I think there is something similar in the US.  The character of the US mythos is different from the Shinto mythos of course.  But we do have the general concept of a group mindset that defines how we view the universe.

When the founders wrote the Declaration of Independence, they defined our core mythos. The founders needed to declare independence from Great Britain, but there was no formal international court for doing so. So they found an informal court that was recognized and appealed to that. The informal court was the court of God’s Law.

In the court of God’s law, God is the Supreme Judge. God receives testimony, which is the truth of people’s actions. God applies God’s laws, which are Natural Law and Spiritual Law. God rewards and punishes accordingly, we suffer or benefit from our actions, in this world and perhaps the next.

Humanity is governed by “the Laws of Nature and [the Laws of] Nature’s God.” We live in a dual universe of naturalness and spirituality. Natural Law applies to the natural world. Spiritual Law applies to the spiritual world and perhaps this world. Natural Law is rational. Spiritual Law is not necessarily rational, but it is full of the human truths necessary for a healthy and happy civil society.

Freedom of choice, Liberty, is necessary for natural and spiritual happiness. We cannot improve our lives in this world unless we are free to make choices. We cannot practice virtue unless we are free to make choices.

God grants us natural rights, such as our Life, our Liberty, and our Pursuit of seeking Happiness.

Human beings are classless in nature. Human classes are spiritual concepts that came about during the growth of human culture, but they are not natural, and therefore not valid in the natural world. In nature, we are all created equal. Classed authorities, such as Kings and Popes, are mythic, not natural, authorities.

When others attempt to limit our rights or deny our equality, they are exercising vice. We are exercising virtue by protecting our rights from those who would practice vice. Virtue is when we act according to God’s Laws.

The US mythos is a form of Deism in that it acknowledges God and the validity of naturalism, it does not acknowledge a specific spiritual tradition even though it does acknowledge the great importance of spiritual tradition. This mythos is intrinsic to our culture. If these concepts were taken away from our culture it would no longer exist. The US as a union of states and their federal government would still exist, but it wouldn’t be the US that the Founders established.

I will update this post when I learn more. Stay tuned.

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