jesus

hekataiosamerikos

The Ultimate Failure of Monotheism

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!

hekataiosamerikos

Renee Good is the New Hypatia

It was March, 415 CE. Egypt, once the crown jewel of learning, the arts, and science, was a waning culture. Strife and dissent were everywhere.

This did not happen overnight. Egypt had become part of the seemingly ever-expanding Roman Empire some time ago. Although this had taken place by force, Egypt prospered for a long time under Roman rule. But, as the rest of the Roman Empire gradually moved toward decline, so had Egypt.

The divisions in Egypt were more acute than in most other regions of the Empire. Jews and Christians constantly bickered over just about any little thing, intentionally provoking each other, causing riots in the streets and damage to ancient structures everywhere.

Hypatia herself was of Greek ancestry, just as those who still ruled were. This had been the case since the time of Alexander the Great. She was a follower of the philosophy we call “Neoplatonism”. What little survives of her writings indicates that she held no particularly strong religious views (although she was a Pagan) other than that espoused by her philosophy. And she was neither Christian nor Jewish religiously, so that both religious groups held her in suspicion. Because she delved into mathematics and the sciences, especially astronomy, she was seen by many as being a witch. For many in that day in time, there was really no difference between astronomy and astrology. That she also taught these subjects to others made her even more of a target of contempt among those who could not understand any of it.

This is not to say that all Christians and Jews hated her or saw her as suspect. She had such students, who apparently loved her. And even prominent leaders in her city of Alexandria accepted her.

But this was not to continue. A series of popular uprisings and massacres somehow caused Hypatia to become the focus of those with hatred in their hearts. Perhaps it was partly because she would lecture openly in the streets at times, drawing crowds.

Regardless of the circumstances, on a sad day in March of 415, a mob of Christian zealots came upon her carriage as she was on her way home, and drug her from it. Either she got away and ran into a building, or they drug her into it – the sources are not certain. The building had formerly been a Pagan temple, since converted to a Christian Church. There, in front of the Christian altar, they stripped her and cut her flesh with seashells! She was dismembered by the mob, taken outside of the city walls, and burned along with as many of her writings as the mob could get ahold of!

Martyrs often become symbols for future generations. Hypatia did this in her death, just as others had done before her. Many Neoplatonists afterward saw her as a symbol of opposition to Christianity. During the Enlightenment she became a symbol of opposition to Catholicism. But, of course, she was also co-opted by Christians too, as in so many other cases, as part of the basis for the legend of St. Catherine of Alexandria.

It still took a few hundred years for the Roman Empire to completely decline and fall. But the trajectory never improved in the meantime. As they say, it was “all downhill” from here. Today, we in the USA face a stark reality that many refuse to acknowledge. We are an empire in decline. All of the signs are there. The leadership of this country claim that they are making us “great again”. They seem set upon expansion, like the ancient empires. But expansion is not really equivalent to greatness. Not while society is falling apart within. Not while military-style thugs function in a rampant manner in our streets as the mobs did in ancient Alexandria, killing innocent people. Not while our government will openly – immediately – vilify the victim of such military-style mobs in an effort to save face. Not while educational institutions are threatened in every possible way because they don’t teach subjects in a Christian enough manner. Not while the news media is forced to become little more than subservient to the regime!

When a person is murdered by a mob in the name of the regime and its objectives, it is a turning-point. That person becomes a martyr for a greater cause whether the regime likes it or not.

Renee Good is the new Hypatia.