The mythology tag should not be used because:
- To avoid confusion with the pejorative usage of the term.
- Gives the impression that these stories are not historical. For
example, calling the Mahabharata war a "myth". There is also no way to distinguish between "real" history and "mythical" history, because both happened in the past.
The word "Mythology" is the study of "Myths". According to Wikipedia,
Mythology or godlore refers variously to the collected myths of a
group of people[1] or to the study of such myths.[2] Myths are the
stories people tell to explain nature, history, and customs.
Then, once you click on the hyperlink for myth, you will read,
A myth is a traditional story consisting of events that are ostensibly
historical, though often supernatural, explaining the origins of a
cultural practice or natural phenomenon.
Definition of ostensible,
stated or appearing to be true, but not necessarily so.
However, wikipedia does state,
The word "myth" is derived from the Greek word mythos (μῦθος), which
simply means "story".
This is the literal etymological meaning of the word "myth" used in academic circles,
The term is common in the academic fields of mythology,
mythography.[11] or folkloristics. Use of the term by scholars has no
implication for the truth or falsity of the myth.
Ok, but then the next line says this,
In fact, depending on the field the terms legend, fiction, fairy tale,
folklore, fable and urban legend can be used interchangeably.[12]
In popular usage,
A myth can be a collectively held belief that has no basis in fact.
This usage, which is often pejorative,[13] arose from labeling the
religious myths and beliefs of other cultures as incorrect, but it has
spread to cover non-religious beliefs as well.[14]
And it is this popular usage of the word that most people who come to Hinduism SE will see, not the usage of the word known by academicians. In fact, most people will think we are fools for calling our own stories "myths".
There is a reason why the word "myth" has two meanings, and it is not a coincidence.
It is also not a coincidence that the Sanskrit word "mithya" means "not real". It is a linguistic cognate with the word "myth" in other languages. The reason why myth has two meanings is quite clear from a linguistic perspective, and is a known occurrence in linguistics, that is, in course of time, the word is applied to something else and then takes on that new meaning. So, in the case of myth, one of two things happened:
Myth originally meant "not real", then the word was later applied to
traditional and religious stories thought to be false, and the word finally meant "traditional stories", but with the connotation that the stories aren't true.
Myth originally meant story, then the word was later applied just to
traditional stories (to distinguish them from stories not mentioned in scriptures), then the traditional stories were thought to be false, then the word myth took on a new meaning as "false".
This is at the same time as the word "history" meant "true history".
For example, the word "gay" etymologically and originally meant happy, but then later meant same-sex attraction. Nowadays, gay primarily means the latter definition.
There is no point in continuing to use a word that means different things for different people, this causes confusion
Also, there are better alternatives, such as "sacred stories", "divine stories", etc.