Editorial September 11, 1976 Issue

Defense Against Old Wives' Tales

Naomi Price

The fables and traditional beliefs we sometimes call old wives' tales are best forgotten. They lead us away from truth and the harmony that accompanies what is true. But it's often hard to completely let them go from thought. If we've lived with them for years, having originally learned them in childhood from people we respect, certain thoughts and reactions become automatic. We don't question them. But modern fables also apparently have sticking power, so it's wise periodically to examine all our thought-habits, honestly look into their origin, and consider if they are really worthy of becoming automatic and habitual.

What is meant by old wives' tales? We know some of them by other names: myths, fables, superstitions—words that seem to imply that these beliefs originate in pagan antiquity, and many of them do. They often refer to health (eat this and be well), safety (do that and be safe), relationships (use the other and people will like you). But there are modern tales as well—involving electricity, air travel, and other twentieth-century phenomena. These are often presented under a more scientific guise. Therefore we are wise to keep continually alert to examine our thoughts not only for deeply rooted ancient myths we may have harbored since childhood but for the modern ones that are only beginning to wander irresponsibly in human thought.

Then there are old wives' tales connected with religion. The First Epistle to Timothy refers to some of these—Gnostic and Jewish myths and apocryphal deflections from the true Christian doctrine —as fables needing to be rejected by the Christians in Ephesus.

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