"Not one region of Earth has been spared from having a past which was filled with religious intolerance."
well obivously - but how much of a miracle is it for old civilizations to develop norms of religious tolerance?
incidentally the worst modern religions are those that don't claim to be a religion and so feel exempted from having to practice tolerance
is this inevitable?
@amir Better carrots.
The big two monotheisms promise a paradise after death for their followers.
Many polytheisms offer nothing (Norse,) or bland shadows (Greek.)
(Technically there are better afterlives on offer in both of those, but you'll never make them.)
@WomanCorn but then this carrot was used to make people wage Holy War
makes me rather sad
@amir Instead of living in the demon haunted world where you have to sacrifice to 20 gods, you sacrifice to one.
Reflects advances in epistemology too, we live in something much more like the monotheistic universe than polytheistic.
what if I like the demon-haunted world better (or, I don't consider the demons demons)?
is it plausible that monotheism-driven "advances in epistemology" only served to obfuscate this reality (which still exists) instead of illuminating it?
@amir JBP would say something along the lines of our concept of divinity is an approximation of the thing that puts you at the top of the hierarchy, across the set of all possible hierarchies. While a monotheistic God is less attuned to successfully modelling success in any specific field, he does better at being a closer approximation across the set of all possible fields of endeavor. His versatility allows him to change with the times, with the culture, and with the people.
@funkyduffy doesn't monotheism imply there is only one correct kind of value hierarchy?
whereas in polytheism you may have your own god, in accordance with what you value or whatever?
why did monotheism win?