Today as we are witnessing a war against Iran initiated by Netanyahu and Trump, we see right in front of our faces the ultimate failure of all forms of monotheism. This statement is not made in sympathy for the Iranian regime. On the contrary, they are as complicit in what has happened as the two other powers, Israel and the US, are. The reason is that, contrary to what we have all been told, this war was never really about stopping Iran from getting a nuclear weapon. Instead, it is about the obsession each side has with end-times prophecy.

One must understand that every form of monotheism has, as a fundamental belief, the ultimate end of things. The monotheist thinks of time in strictly linear terms. That means that there must be a beginning and an ending. They also always posit a spiritual world in which there is a war between good and evil, with humans playing the pivotal role in it. In each scenario, all things come to a final point during which there is a great war between good and evil with good, of course, being the ultimate victor. Then comes a final judgment of all of humankind. This has been the scenario from the very beginning, starting with Zoroastrianism, which originated in the far east and was mainly espoused by the various Persian empires throughout ancient history. During their sojourn in Babylon and after their return to their homes, the Hebrew people were exposed to this thought process so that it was added to their own religious belief system. Christianity picked it up from both avenues. And Islam got it from all three. Thus, all forms of monotheism have this belief system as part of its fundamental doctrine, only in somewhat different forms. And, of course, each religion believes that their god will ultimately prevail (forget the idea that they all worship the same god, because they don’t).

So, now the powers that be, all of which follow one or another form of monotheism, have started their war. Never mind that it does not look like the scenario that they always told us it would be. That doesn’t really matter. The important point is that the end-times prophecy people on all sides see the culmination of all of their beliefs taking place at this time. Yes, there are some who say that they don’t see it that way, but they are a minority. But trust me  when I say that Netanyahu thinks he is a kind of messiah who will usher in the Jewish version of the end while Trump thinks he is the Christian version and the Ayatollah thinks he is the Muslim version. And each thinks that his god will prevail. That the cost of this final battle will be the ultimate near destruction of one nation or another, along with its people, is of no consequence to either of these leaders.

And here we arrive at the true ultimate failure of all forms of monotheism in that in order for things to culminate into the heavenly world that they envision a final battle destroying whole nations and peoples must first take place. In the Christian version, for example, it is the Jewish people and the nation of Israel which will suffer this fate. Only when Israel is  virtually destroyed and Jesus supposedly comes back to save what is left will they finally embrace him as their messiah. Of course, all of this is quite the opposite to everything that Paul wrote about the salvation of “all of Israel”, but that no longer matters. No, instead only that remnant left after the horrors of the battle of Armageddon will ultimately be saved. In addition to this, there are some even now who see this war as a way for the gospel to enter Iran so that the people there might accept it. These people are so jaded that they actually believe that the people would accept the religion of their aggressors!  But,a gain, a war was required for this to even take place.

Once one sees this scenario for what it really is, it seems rather pointless, doesn’t it? Humanity has to suffer in order to bring about the salvation of a remnant of Israel (or Iran). Wow! But this is exactly what each side has, for their own reasons, started.

As a Pagan who rejects all forms of monotheism, I am thankful that zi am free of such end-times delusions. I do not believe that an ultimate war has to take place at all, whatever the result. This war is not something initiated by any god. It has been initiated strictly by humans who cannot grasp of any other scenario than the one I have laid out. They cannot conceive of getting to a better world without war first. But we polytheists are not infected with end-times thinking. We have no final great war and no final judgment. We are free of these things. And it is freedom indeed!