The world has historically been full of many differing and conflicting religions. There are multiple ways to conceptualise the divine through theism, the majority theism in the world as of now is monotheism. I hold the opinion that the divine is inherently multifaceted and that we as individuals try to make sense of something so unknowable. We shouldn't punish people for experiencing something differently than how we do. I want to encourage more interfaith dialogues, the first step being approaching one another in good faith. We shouldn't see someone of a differing theology and say they are inherently wrong and should be punished. There are some misunderstandings on polytheism that I hope to shed a light on, in no way am I trying to convert anyone or be antagonistic towards monotheism. Islam and Christianity according to pew.org are the world's two largest religions, both monotheistic and only expected to grow by 2050. Monotheism pushes the idea that there is only one god in the world, if there was another god it would be lesser than the real one and therefore not a god, or it is a demon-being that intends to harm people so we should turn to the true god for safety. This god is usually accepted to be an omni-god: omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent etc and protects and loves the devotees. Polytheism generally doesn't accept or push the idea that the gods are omni-gods. A popular belief in polytheist religions is that all the gods work together to keep the world running, to ensure the cosmos itself doesn't fall apart. Some gods are closer to humans than others, some have no personality and are nearly completely incomprehensible.
Some monotheists claim that polytheism is dead and was replaced with the true belief of monotheism. While paganism died and was not practised by the majority of the population, that doesn't mean that folk religions or religions on the other side of the world that were polytheistic also died. The claim that all polytheism died doesn't hold well when looking at other continents most notably Asia. Shinto is the native faith of Japan, worshipping kami (god-spirits that inspire awe) in a polytheistic way. Shinto didn't die and is still practised by both Japanese people and non-Japanese people. Likewise with Hinduism where practices can look and function like a polytheist practice even if theologically monist; even then there are folk Hindus who are also theologically polytheist. There is an example of how different people get different theologies. In Micheal Greer's book "A World Full Of Gods" he tells us of a neighbourhood who experience a cat coming to their house hungry or thirsty. One house says it is a black cat who loves milk, another house says it's multiple cats who like kibble and another house says there is no cat and it is actually a raccoon. When people push the idea that there is a true way to experience the divine, all other ways being wrong, I feel we miss out on a great chance for a conversation on how multifaceted the divine can be and how we experience it individually. We should encourage conversations where all parties are coming together out of good faith rather than debate the topic of who is fundamentally wrong and needs to change immediately. Most of these debates are not in good faith of genuinely wanting to learn about the opposing person's understanding on the theology, but is about trying to convert someone in the crowd or the opponent themselves. We can learn a lot by reading about other theologies and religions and this can dispel misconceptions we have of the adherents.
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