Autism is my super blessing! I'm a high-school valedictorian, college graduate, world traveler, disability advocate. I'm a Unitarian Universalist. I'm a Progressive Liberal. I'm about equal rights, human rights, civil & political rights, & economic, social, &cultural rights. I do servant leadership, boundless optimism, & Oneness/Wholeness. I'm good naked & unashamed! I love positive personhood, love your neighbor as yourself, and do no harm! I'm also appropriately inappropriate! My self-ratings: NC-17, XXX, X, X18+ & TV-MA means empathy! I publish shows at 11am! Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/antonio-myers4/support
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episode 71: There Are No Monotheistic Religions (Educating monotheists to their polytheist beliefs)
"In everyday life, we non-theists may find ourselves in discussions with theists. Have you noticed that these discussions often go around in circles and achieve nothing? Why is that?
Let me suggest that one reason is because we are using their framework in which to discuss and argue. In this article, I will explore some practical ways to stay out of their framework. Who says they have the sole right to define the terms of engagement? For this discussion, we will focus on monotheism, but other areas might be just as interesting.
Many modern-day theists seem to consider the so-called monotheistic nature of their religions as a sign of legitimacy, at least when compared to other openly polytheistic religions. The gods of ancient Greece and Rome were many, each with their own unique powers and niches in the nether world. It is no problem to see these as polytheistic religions but interestingly it is almost as easy to identify so-called monotheistic religions as polytheistic. If we expose the propaganda of these religions by challenging this key concept, we shift the frame, and open the door for a different kind of discussion. We don’t have to acquiesce to their definitions of their invisible friends.
Let’s explore. To be a monotheistic religion, a religion must have only one god in its lexicon. Zeus may have been the highest and most powerful god in the Greek pantheon, but he was certainly joined by many other lesser gods. In Christian mythology, the gods are no less than four, sometimes more. The Father, Son, Holy Ghost and Satan are certainly gods. For whatever the Christian apologist wants to say, these four certainly function as much like individual gods as any Greek gods. The Yahweh figure may be more powerful than the Son, Satan or Holy Ghost, but so too was Zeus or Thor. All move in mysterious ways and while three are allied against one, so too were there alliances among Greek and Norse gods. In addition, Catholics have Mary, who seems to have special powers and access to the other gods in remarkable ways. Then we have all the saints of both Catholic and Orthodox traditions. How convenient that each of them seems to have special powers, not unlike the demigods and lesser gods of other polytheistic religions."