To the editor:

In ancient Greek and Roman times polytheism was the dominant religious paradigm. Conflicts and wars were fought for the acquisition of riches, obtaining more food resources, or expanding an empire; they were not fought because of religious ideologies.

Judaist monotheism arose a few millennia before the current era and was followed by Christianity at the beginning of the this era. Subsequently, this was followed by Islam in the 7th century completing the three Abrahamic monotheistic religions that we know today.

The transition to monotheism is exemplified in the book of Genesis where the people were told not to have any other gods before the one true God. And this one true God was a jealous god, even declaring that his name was Jealous. Severe penalties, including death, were instituted against those who worshiped other gods. The arrival of monotheism in the Middle East seems to coincide with the invention of writing. There it was, the magic of the written word, proclaimed that it was from the one true God, and people were required to believe it. This led to obedience, conformity, intolerance of other beliefs, and obligatory rules, rituals, and practices.

In polytheism, with its panoply of various gods, good and evil could be ascribed to various gods as just their unpredictable and perhaps capricious nature. The polytheists tended to be open-minded about other people’s beliefs, but with monotheism came the duality of good and evil and the invention of an invisible being that was the cause of the evil. This is a little strange considering all the evil committed and abetted by the god depicted in the Hebrew scriptures. This duality of good and evil led to the duality of us versus them, “them” being other races, nations, religions, or people of different ethnicity. Conflict naturally followed.

The religious conflicts continued to be waged into the present era, with each of the belligerents claiming sanctions by their deity, and some of these conflicts are with us today. Does all this suggest we should return to polytheism? It certainly might produce a more peaceful world, but to modern minds polytheism no longer makes any sense. Perhaps we just need Nonotheism – that is, no, no to theism.

Psychological studies have shown that secularists (nonotheists) tend to be less vengeful, less nationalistic, less militaristic, less authoritarian, less self righteous, and more tolerant, on average, than religious believers.

David M Keranen

Bakersfield