Definitions

It occurred to me, that people reading my posts would benefit from seeing my definitions of some of the key terms I use, or will use, in this blog, instead of reading dubious explanations from questionable sources like Wikipedia.

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Monotheism is NOT belief in one god. Monotheism is belief in the ONLY god, the only "truth". Why is this distinction important? It is, because a claim to worshipping the ONLY god automatically excludes all other gods. Worshippers of all other gods are deemed heretics, infidels, idol worshippers - or even heathens. This monotheistic intolerance has a dire consequence: all non-believers must be either converted, subjugated or killed. And monotheists are very diligent in carrying out this intolerance: missionary work, persecution and holy wars are the very backbone of all monotheistic history.

Polytheism is NOT belief in multiple Gods. Polytheism is believing that multiple Gods EXIST. Again, why is this distinction important? It is, because a polytheist may easily worship a single god, always or most of the time, but he/she does not reject other Gods, and does not reject other that worship different Gods. Polytheism is therefore about tolerance of fellow polytheists, about respect for other Gods and ultimately the cultures the dwell in. Except of course any monotheistic such.

Henotheism is worship of a single god, but without the rejection of other Gods. A henotheist is just a devoted to his/her single god as a monotheist, but lacks the inherent intolerance of the latter. Henotheists can easily co-exist with polytheists, and are most likely welcome among polytheists. Henotheism may equally be regarded as the tolerant and non-missionary cousin of monotheism, or - more to the point here - as a special case of polytheism. I tend to use the latter definition.

Atheism is the belief that NO god exist. This is a belief that looks very similar to monotheism in the eyes of a polytheist. Again we're dealing with believers, that reject all other "truths" than their own, believers that rarely miss an opportunity to "teach" religious people of the "mistakes" (mission), and belittle religious feelings as humbug and delusions (holy war). As a polytheist, I have no warm feelings toward millitant atheists.

Nihilism is also a belief that no god exist, but only for each individual. Again this is the non-missionary, tolerant version, of atheism this time. I have yet to encounter a nihilist in persona, but will welcome him/her when I do. It's indeed a lonely life without any help and support from friendly Gods.

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I hope this little reference are of use for all that try to get a grip on religious differencies. Remember, don't automatically believe the definitions written on Wikipedia and elsewhere, they're most likely all written by monotheists or atheists. So bookmark this post !