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Polytheism, Monotheism and the Human Senses
The orchestrated destruction of polytheism in western societies and the adopted practices
(1st edition - March 2007) by A.O. Kime
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'renting' this article, see Rent-a-Article
While polytheism is the belief in multiple gods, although it doesn’t
necessarily preclude the simultaneous belief in a single supreme god, it is
believed to have been the foundation of all ancient religions. Of course, times
change… roughly 1,500 years ago, give or take a few centuries depending on how
one wants to compartmentalize the matter, polytheism virtually disappeared from
western cultures as a religion.
Ultimately, and largely due to the pejorative forces of monotheism, the ancient
pantheons of the Greek, Roman and Norse were demoted to myth. Although the
polytheistic religions of the ancient Egyptians have also disappeared, as did
the later Sumerian collection of gods, polytheism still persists in the Far
East… most notably in Hinduism and Buddhism.
While polytheism is a fascinating curiosity for spiritual reasons alone, for western
societies perhaps the most interesting aspect resides in its choreographed
downfall… namely the schemes and battle tactics employed by Christianity and
Judaism.
In the west, while polytheism lost the battle of the minds to monotheism, it
having been effectively eradicated as a religious belief, and to whatever extent
polytheism became its own worst enemy by having grown essentially corrupt and
therefore self-destructing, it was religious intrigue which delivered the coup
de grace.
The short-lived innocence of polytheism
In the beginning however, ancient polytheism was rooted in innocence by
well-meaning theists who simply tried to honor the many faces of God. At the
time, it was not important one should consider there being just one god… or
any other particular number of gods. It was not an issue at first… it only
became an issue when polytheism organized itself and became an institution.
Once organized, of course, beliefs had to be made uniform and this uniformity
demanded, among other things, that the number of gods be agreed upon. It was the
beginning of the end for polytheism. Also, the innocence of polytheism became
further corrupted when the dreadful idea of ‘worship’ entered the picture.
The idea of worship was not conceived because of any spiritual necessity but
instead it was conjured up as an organizing tactic. Without the need to worship,
there would be little reason for believers to congregate and therefore the
institution would have no ‘congregation’ in which to administer. With the door
open to take control of an otherwise leaderless and unorganized ideology,
something was needed to get people together on a regular basis. It was roundup
time and the churches the corrals.
A chance to lead the leaderless was a golden opportunity for the
organization-minded polytheists … as if being a flock without a shepherd, or
being an unfilled vacancy there for the taking. The idea was also clever… until
then, who would have dreamed spiritual beliefs could be administered? After all,
a belief isn’t a tangible item. Until then, only material possessions were
thought controllable such as land, money or perhaps a slave. The notion someone
could control an idea would have been thought preposterous initially.
Markedly evident that polytheism as an institution was now wholly corrupt, if
not evil; it also became an easy target for any other competing belief… namely
Christianity.
The stand and tactics of monotheism
In western societies, while monotheism was adopted by virtually all subsequent
religions, it wasn’t because it was necessary in the spiritual sense; it was due
to their stand against polytheism. Since it had been widely heralded that a
belief in more than one god was the reason for wickedness, it made this
otherwise unnecessary position instead necessary for the purpose of distancing
and distinguishing themselves. While the wickedness of polytheism was not due to
the number of gods, but instead the result of repugnant worshiping practices,
nonetheless the ‘one god’ concept was adopted… along with, of course, a whole
new set of tenets.
However, while the tenets were markedly different, monotheism followed suit and
promoted the idea of worship as an organizing tactic as well. And, even though
monotheism lambasted idolatry as if evil, they also practiced it… as any statue
of a religious figure can testify to. Islam would even claim Christianity is
polytheistic. In short, there was much the western institutions of monotheism
adopted from their predecessors… the bygone institutions of polytheism.
While the organizers of both these institutions are guilty of exploiting
spiritual beliefs, exploitation was nothing new as a tactic… which, for ages,
had been typically utilized by business entrepreneurs. Just like a businessman
would, they took advantage of an exploitable opportunity which, in this case,
was the unorganized scattering of beliefs of evidential importance to people
which guaranteed a continual flow of followers. Seen as a ‘market’, they needed
only to position themselves as the ‘middlemen’… specifically to place themselves
between God and man.
Competing religions also employ the tactics typical of a politician… which is to
discredit their rivals in every possible way. While discrediting a rival was
nothing new either, perhaps an idea dating back to the Stone Age, certainly
lovers did that, but until then nobody really considered discrediting a
spiritual belief before, at least not on such a scale… and polytheism, obviously
caught off-guard since they were unable to stage an effective defense, was
perhaps the first victim of a wholesale smear campaign.
For the newer religious institutions, most of which were now monotheistic as a
matter of policy, although they couldn’t be anything else since they had already
discredited polytheism in order to destroy it, all that remained was to screen
and control information.
The fluid beliefs of the prophets
While the spiritual truths commonly known today were likely known for ages, some
ancient knowledge isn’t commonly known… or, for that matter, new revelations.
The reason is because not all spiritual truths are advertised through the
channels of organized religions… only selected information. This is typical for
a religious institution though... in order to save face they won’t change a
comma in their dogma. As a result, the missing pieces we must discover for
ourselves.
While it remains a mystery the extent of spiritual knowledge which might have
been forgotten or lost by the ages, or destroyed by the Catholic Church during
the Spanish Inquisition, some of it obviously survived… although that which is
generally known is due largely to Christianity and Judaism selectively citing
the sayings of men (prophets) believed to have been spiritually enlightened.
While these prophets would have been subscribing to some unadulterated version
of either monotheism or polytheism initially, unrefined at the time, a belief of
their own making whether divinely acquired or not, this fact was played down by
the later monotheistic religions which quoted their insightful observations.
Later, but shamefully, any unrefined beliefs still lingering were ignominiously
denounced and viewed as heresy… which discredited, in effect, their very own
sources. Of course, those who subscribed to unsanctioned beliefs the
Catholics burned at the stake.
The point is, by failing to credit an unrefined (un-institutionalized) belief as
the cause for a particular insight, as being the impetus; they are implying
their religion was responsible instead. While it isn’t plagiarism since credit
was given the author, but by leading one to believe their religion was the
impetus is to infer co-authorship.
So what is meant by an unadulterated version? It is merely one's belief in God
(however perceived) along with some personal points of view... some divinely
ascertained. Since it was the common man who discovered God, not religions, his
version would be the original or unadulterated version… being a profoundly
simple matter yet one as flexible as a person’s growing wisdom and revised
insights might dictate. Of critical importance to one’s spiritual wellbeing is
that the unadulterated version is fluid.
A question of logic
Yet, it is insane there should be any battle between polytheism and
monotheism... since both are rooted in one simple and divinely-acquired truth…
there is a God. The belief in plurality is an innocent non-issue simply because
plurality isn't applicable to ethereal matters where physical distinctions don't
exist. This inapplicability is what makes it innocent. Nor would it have
spiritual consequences either... not unless the Pacific Ocean begrudges people
for believing it is really six oceans instead of one.
Even if it was divinely ascertained there is just one god, being wholly
comprised as a single unit, indivisible, and not merely determined by committee,
the contradicting belief in some form of plurality still wouldn't matter.... no
more than the conflicting beliefs in the number of colors in a rainbow. It is
still a rainbow. Plurality only became an issue when ‘worship’ entered the
picture. The act of worshiping, an act which requires the subject be identified,
forced one to choose between monotheism and polytheism.
While in effect there is just one God, the scope of his infinite influence and
the variety of ways it is expressed suggests diversity which, in turn, opens the
door to all kinds of possibilities which may include manifestations… and perhaps
the case since purportedly they occur. However, whether a common ghost or a
vision of Mary, if any differences in ‘composition’ between them exist in which
to compare, they would be of a type unknown to humans. To date, the ethereal has
no known compositions (obviously none physical) nor is it yet divisible.
The point being… since humans are not capable of determining the number of gods
beyond one, therefore being a contentious issue for no logical reason, the focus
instead should be on whether these manifestations actually exist, and especially
if any ethereal distinctions exist.
Manifestations and the human senses
Since only the beholder of a manifestation would believe it actually happened, a
rare event being otherwise generally unbelievable, until one is documented there
will always be the skeptics. Similarly, obliviousness to the role of the senses
would also cast doubt on the fact that only through the senses is how ethereal
distinctions can be made. However, having been only allotted six senses (the Buddhists
say nine); it’s a sense which humans don’t have (the Buddhists would disagree). This
unknown sense, although admittedly a heightened sixth sense may have this
capability, would be no more alien than the alienness of music to the deaf.
Since all aspects of creation are known only through the senses, and by no other
means, the reason for any unknown aspect is because we do not possess the
necessary sense or because we’re not fully utilizing the sixth sense. The senses
are not only the windows to the universe and our manner of awareness; the senses
are so phenomenal it’s curious why they weren’t idolized by polytheistic
institutions instead of contrived gods with contrived names such as Apollo and
Thor. Yet, they weren't entirely contrived, there was some basis... the muse
of Greek mythology being a good example.
Second only to God, nothing is more deserving of a pedestal than the senses… but
not for worshipping purposes mind you, but to appreciate and admire. After all,
without them we are otherwise nothing. The lesser gods, if any, would only
qualify for third place.
But originally, these different ways God expresses his influence was what
polytheism was based upon… albeit that posed a problem in expressing the matter
since incorporeity is only shallowly describable due to the limitations of
languages. Nor can sensory experiences be adequately described such as the smell
of a rose or a baking cake. As a result… the pantheons were contrived (as a
substitute).
Case in point… even the term ‘manifestation’ is lacking because that would imply
there must be a distinction… except, that is, when one considers that simple
thoughts are manifestations (loosely) but have no distinctive qualities either…
yet they exist.
In the end, it doesn’t matter these doctrines of polytheism or monotheism… which
in both cases the extraneous tenets were included because religions can’t put
their brand on such a small collection of known truths and get much mileage.
While the freedom of religion exists as a cherished right, in that one may
choose to believe anything they wish, and may practice that belief in most any
manner, that changes upon entering a church because, as middlemen, churches
attempt to inhibit this freedom by insisting upon the belief in their dogma
only. In other words, upon the doorsteps of a church is where the freedom of
religion ends. Churches prefer your ideas be left outside… especially isms.
God knows… in a world of competing beliefs, full of intrigue and often at war,
freedom of religion exists only in the heart.
A.O. Kime
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