What are some of the "old mythologies" discussed by Mary and Thatcher, to which people cling for comfort? Are any of these still popular in the modern era?

What are some of the "old mythologies" discussed by Mary and Thatcher, to which people cling for comfort even when they're no longer true? Are any of these still popular in the modern era?

The most urgent for their era was the mythology (taken from a literal reading of the Old Testament creation story, which ironically was never taken literally in the Jewish tradition) that the earth was created all at once. Though even then not all Christians took this literally, the prevailing view was of God as an actual person-like supernatural being who did this, so the battle over evolutionary science was real. Another mythology that obviously actual people in Vineland once subscribed to flows from this: the mythology of an all-wise, God-like father figure, the male authority figure who can do no wrong, and will make everything right for his faithful followers--in this case, Charles Landis, determined to replicate his vision of Eden on earth, with a set of regulations controlling nearly every aspect of people's lives, in exchange for their fantasy of security, comfort and convenience. That this system rested upon suppressing facts, scientific or otherwise, on a willing suspension of disbelief like what we bring to fairy tales, is demonstrated by what really did happen to Carruth, what Landis got away with, in history, not just the story. I found that parallel with our present time absolutely chilling.