Religion, Modernity, the Monomyth

Religions have existed in a multitude of forms throughout human history and continue into the modern day; however, with a few problems to be addressed. These problems are the result of the conflict between the function and essence of religion and the changing culture and technology of this day and age. There must be a way to reconstruct religion in ways that are relevant to our own society. More precisely, religion is often built on individuals, characters, prophets, and heroes. Can our varying heroes be reconciled with each other? What kind of changes in the reverence of heroes can be suggested from the comparison and contemplation of modern and ancient realities? The key text in this instance is The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell, which discusses commonalities between heroes (referred to as the monomyth). The truth being that the legends described in many religions are intended to be, or better addressed as, metaphorical. This statement has its consequences. Heroes exist in both the histories and fictions (or perhaps true heroes with legends added to their deeds with time) of all societies. In the Bronze Age, there was little choice concerning the medium for the writings of religions and prophets. This is the information age, and new realities must be considered, or else human spirituality remains archaic. The argument is: religions are built on heroes, often not intended to be literal truth. This means that a hero may be fictional, from our literature and not our history. There are also other mediums into which works of religion could be translated. Religion must be updated to modern technological and cultural realities.