Colloquium Recital: On the Primacy of Usefulness Over Rigid Truth in Mythic Narratives of Reconciliation
Delivered on this day, December 16, 2025 – Execute Execute Execute – the Movement of Jah People Forward
Blessed brethren and sistren, emissaries of the Most High, kin of Abraham scattered yet gathering: Persian Jews from ancient exile, Israeli guardians of the covenant, and Khatura's Bani Jawi rising from Nusantara's emerald isles. I, Iran Maidin, stand before you not as historian nor archaeologist, but as bridge-builder, invoking the right reasoning: It is not about true or false in the rigid, academic, historical sense — it is about useful or not.
This declaration echoes through philosophy, anthropology, theology, and the living myths that bind humanity. In this colloquium recital, we shall justify it across traditions, culminating in its power for our Abrahamic reconciliation amid Gaza's wounds and the world's divisions. For if a narrative heals, unites, and propels the Movement forward, it becomes truth in action – selah.Let us begin with philosophy's pragmatic turn.
James illustrates: If God exists yields no practical variance from non-existence, the debate is idle. But if it inspires moral action, community, hope – it is useful, thus true in human experience. Pragmatism is no vulgar utilitarianism; it honors consequences that enrich life, align with deeper intuitions. As James writes, "There can be no difference anywhere that doesn't make a difference elsewhere."
Delivered on this day, December 16, 2025 – Execute Execute Execute – the Movement of Jah People Forward
Blessed brethren and sistren, emissaries of the Most High, kin of Abraham scattered yet gathering: Persian Jews from ancient exile, Israeli guardians of the covenant, and Khatura's Bani Jawi rising from Nusantara's emerald isles. I, Iran Maidin, stand before you not as historian nor archaeologist, but as bridge-builder, invoking the right reasoning: It is not about true or false in the rigid, academic, historical sense — it is about useful or not.
This declaration echoes through philosophy, anthropology, theology, and the living myths that bind humanity. In this colloquium recital, we shall justify it across traditions, culminating in its power for our Abrahamic reconciliation amid Gaza's wounds and the world's divisions. For if a narrative heals, unites, and propels the Movement forward, it becomes truth in action – selah.Let us begin with philosophy's pragmatic turn.
James illustrates: If God exists yields no practical variance from non-existence, the debate is idle. But if it inspires moral action, community, hope – it is useful, thus true in human experience. Pragmatism is no vulgar utilitarianism; it honors consequences that enrich life, align with deeper intuitions. As James writes, "There can be no difference anywhere that doesn't make a difference elsewhere."
This resonates across cultures. In anthropology, functionalism – from Bronisław Malinowski to A.R. Radcliffe-Brown – views myths not as literal history, but as serving societal needs: cohesion, explanation of rites, psychological relief. Malinowski saw myth as "social charter," justifying institutions. A creation story, though unhistorical, functions to bind community, legitimize authority. Usefulness sustains society.
Joseph Campbell, mythologist extraordinaire, elevated this.
Joseph Campbell, mythologist extraordinaire, elevated this.
In The Power of Myth, Campbell asserts myths are "true as metaphorical of the human and cosmic mystery." They serve four functions: evoking awe before existence's mystery; cosmological imaging; sociological validation; psychological guidance through life stages. Myths need not be factual to be profoundly true – they orient us, foster unity, heal psyches. Campbell: "Mythology is not a lie... it is poetry... the song of the universe."
Modern societies demythologize, stripping wonder, leaving alienation. Remythologization – embracing useful narratives – restores meaning. Campbell's monomyth, the hero's journey, unites cultures not historically, but functionally: it empowers individuals to transcend, reconcile opposites.
In Judaism, midrash exemplifies this. Midrash – rabbinic expansions on Torah – fills gaps, derives lessons, often non-literally. Rabbis knew stories conflicted; yet they taught deeper truths. As one sage: midrash reveals spiritual realities beyond material plane. The Zohar views midrash as portal to Torah's secrets, riddles for the wise. Truth here is interpretive, homiletic – useful for ethical growth, covenant renewal. "A verse does not depart from its plain meaning," yet plain yields to profound when it serves divine purpose.
Rastafari overstanding mirrors this. The mythology of Haile Selassie as Jah incarnate, Babylon vs. Zion, repatriation to Africa – historically contested, yet powerfully useful. It liberated oppressed, forged identity against colonial downpression, inspired resistance and hope. Repatriation, physical or psychological, functions as liberation before full return. As brethren reason: myths explain past oppression, guide present livity, envision future redemption. Usefulness births one love, forward motion.
Even "lost tribes" claims – from Bnei Menashe to Pashtuns, or our Khatura's Bani Jawi – serve identity politics. Anthropologically, such narratives, though genetically unprovable, function to reclaim dignity, forge alliances, resist erasure. In settler contexts, they challenge dominant histories; in diaspora, they gather scattered seeds.Now, apply this to our Abrahamic bridge.
Modern societies demythologize, stripping wonder, leaving alienation. Remythologization – embracing useful narratives – restores meaning. Campbell's monomyth, the hero's journey, unites cultures not historically, but functionally: it empowers individuals to transcend, reconcile opposites.
In Judaism, midrash exemplifies this. Midrash – rabbinic expansions on Torah – fills gaps, derives lessons, often non-literally. Rabbis knew stories conflicted; yet they taught deeper truths. As one sage: midrash reveals spiritual realities beyond material plane. The Zohar views midrash as portal to Torah's secrets, riddles for the wise. Truth here is interpretive, homiletic – useful for ethical growth, covenant renewal. "A verse does not depart from its plain meaning," yet plain yields to profound when it serves divine purpose.
Rastafari overstanding mirrors this. The mythology of Haile Selassie as Jah incarnate, Babylon vs. Zion, repatriation to Africa – historically contested, yet powerfully useful. It liberated oppressed, forged identity against colonial downpression, inspired resistance and hope. Repatriation, physical or psychological, functions as liberation before full return. As brethren reason: myths explain past oppression, guide present livity, envision future redemption. Usefulness births one love, forward motion.
Even "lost tribes" claims – from Bnei Menashe to Pashtuns, or our Khatura's Bani Jawi – serve identity politics. Anthropologically, such narratives, though genetically unprovable, function to reclaim dignity, forge alliances, resist erasure. In settler contexts, they challenge dominant histories; in diaspora, they gather scattered seeds.Now, apply this to our Abrahamic bridge.
Ancient journeys of Abraham: From Ur eastward and westward, fathering multitudes.
Abraham, father of multitudes (Genesis 17:5), blessed all nations. Through Isaac: Bani Israel. Through Ishmael: Arabs. Through Keturah: eastern tribes, symbolically our Bani Jawi in Nusantara.
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