neptunesdolphins | FIGHT THE “MONOARCHY”: BELIEVE IN DIVERSE GODS (Reply)

Both Edward Butler (Polytheistic philosopher) and John Michael Greer (occult writer) have noted that Monotheism presents the universe as unified in one God. Therefore, the diversity and plurality of the Gods is denied. The Monocentric model imposes a structure where all fit into the One (Unity). For example, at the recent Parliament of World Religions, the idea of “unity with plurality” is promoted, with every religion exemplifying the ultimate Oneness.

Monotheism asserts that every great civilization shares the same Gods. It explains that people created their Gods to explain the world around them. For example, the Mesopotamians had Gods to explain the unpredictable floods of their major rivers. The God of War, Ninurta built canals to control the spring floods. Based on that syllogism, El of Canaan and Ra of Egypt are the same as Ninurta.

This assertion is “faulty generalization,” since it is based on a limited amount of information. Polytheisms in various civilizations are often studied by “Monotheistic” scholars. Edward Butler explains in “The Way of the Gods” that “Western Tradition is a Christian and post-Christian tradition.” This forms a fundamental bias that myths are historical or natural events. Since Monotheism strives for unity, hence the scholarly approach to Polytheistic civilizations is to regard their Gods as the same Being. The result of this faulty generalization is a broad sweeping supposition about complex religions. In this case, the complexities of Polytheisms are stripped away forcing the religions into one convenient category of proto-monotheism.

Moreover, Monotheism’s drive for unity infers that no other God can stand alone. Every God’s Pantheon must be taken as one entity. According to Monotheism, all the Gods are all one God with many attributes. Therefore Jupiter, Mars, Vesta and the other Roman Gods are all aspects of the One Roman God.

The other logical fallacy of Monotheism is “special pleading.” That is “insisting that something is an exception to a rule, without justifying why.” Yahweh is the exception to the rule about other civilizations and their Gods. Nowhere is it explained as to why Yahweh is different nor why the myths concerning Yahweh are facts. Instead, it assumes the “specialness” of Yahweh.

Polytheists have taken Monotheistic logic in the opposite direction. If one God is real, then They are all real. Moreover, if all the Gods are the same except for Yahweh, then They are all different. Gods live in families with Beings of all genders. And like families, some within do move between other families and their own. Some Gods belong in several Pantheons, while Others remain in only one.