Some polytheistic skepticism

[1137]

Is it possible we are wrong about polytheism? Like I think our general consensus is most gods are chill and a few are power hungry monsters. But all these ideas of individuality and liberty and stuff we apply to them are literally post enlightenment ideas for the most part. Like the kings back then ruled with an iron fist, people were born into their class, and they were taught that matter was as important than spirit. That's all super demiurgic. What if a few gods really are more of a liberating outcast like the literary Satan, and the majority of the gods are apathetic if not downright malevolent and controlling? I mean even in polytheistic revival most people are hardcore RHP.

Also matter is clearly ****ed but it can't have been caused by a demiurge if he only took power slowly over time as some petty god.

What if there's just bad gods, worse gods, and a few allies of man?

 

[JustGeorge]

Is it possible we are wrong about polytheism? Like I think our general consensus is most gods are chill and a few are power hungry monsters. But all these ideas of individuality and liberty and stuff we apply to them are literally post enlightenment ideas for the most part. Like the kings back then ruled with an iron fist, people were born into their class, and they were taught that matter was as important than spirit. That's all super demiurgic. What if a few gods really are more of a liberating outcast like the literary Satan, and the majority of the gods are apathetic if not downright malevolent and controlling? I mean even in polytheistic revival most people are hardcore RHP.

Also matter is clearly ****ed but it can't have been caused by a demiurge if he only took power slowly over time as some petty god.

What if there's just bad gods, worse gods, and a few allies of man?

Its something I consider at times.

But, I tend to believe(I say believe, not know) that the Gods are probably somewhat reflective of us... There's a few really good ones, and a few really bad ones. Most fall somewhere in between. A person gets on with some, and not with others.

What I wonder... What of the Gods of different worlds? Universes? What are they like? I'll never know(and don't seek to know), but it makes me think...

 

[1137]

Its something I consider at times.

But, I tend to believe(I say believe, not know) that the Gods are probably somewhat reflective of us... There's a few really good ones, and a few really bad ones. Most fall somewhere in between. A person gets on with some, and not with others.

I tend to think similarly, though as I age I'm not sure there's much of a balance between the good ones and bad ones. Or maybe the bad ones just have the power to be louder.

What I wonder... What of the Gods of different worlds? Universes? What are they like? I'll never know(and don't seek to know), but it makes me think...

I've actually never really thought about it that way, I love it.

 

[JustGeorge]

I tend to think similarly, though as I age I'm not sure there's much of a balance between the good ones and bad ones. Or maybe the bad ones just have the power to be louder.

Maybe, or maybe they're easier to hear, or we dwell on them more. People don't usually sit around and talk about how good things are going, but they do with the opposite.

I've actually never really thought about it that way, I love it.

We're just so small... Pondering on that has led me to ponder what role our(meaning, the Gods of the planet, or the Gods relating to this planet) Gods have in the even larger scheme...

Its unknowable, in my opinion.

 

[The Hammer]

What if there's just bad gods, worse gods, and a few allies of man?

This is called maltheism.

 

[Tamino]

Uuuhhhmm, could someone help me out here, what is RHP in this context?

 

[The Hammer]

Uuuhhhmm, could someone help me out here, what is RHP in this context?

Right Hand Path (RHP) vs Left Hand Path (LHP)

 

[Quintessence]

I don't really do... moralizing. Especially for anything outside the sphere of humanity because morality is very much a human construct. I don't see it as applying to the gods, with a few exceptions, but rather an attribute humans project onto the gods because most humans can't stop themselves from moralizing everything.

In my view, the gods just are. Their relationships with humans vary, and how we describe those relationships from our own perspective also varies and is anthropocentrically biased. That is, gods that inconvenience humans get called "bad" in spite of the universe not revolving around humans to begin with; plus these "bad" things serve a necessary role and function.

 

[The Hammer]

I don't see it as applying to the gods, with a few exceptions, but rather an attribute humans project onto the gods because most humans can't stop themselves from moralizing everything.

Maybe this is too much of an aside, but why do you think this is?

 

[Quintessence]

Maybe this is too much of an aside, but why do you think this is?

Probably too much of an aside... haha.

Far be it from me to speak for humanity as a whole, but at least for me, when I used to moralize a lot it was because it is simply the cultural norm to do so. Where does that norm come from? See: the intellectual history of a given culture. In America, at least, the moralizing comes to us from two main currents, one secular and one religious. The religious one is explicitly Christian in orientation, a religion that has much to say on the concept of "good" and "evil." The secular one comes to us from philosophy and law, such as Locke's works and the general philosophy of natural/moral law. The secular one was more baked in to the nation's founding but pretty much everyone was also Christian at the time so that was also there too. In any case, where that comes from is definitely not Pagan, indigenous, or polytheist in orientation.

 

[1137]

Probably too much of an aside... haha.

Far be it from me to speak for humanity as a whole, but at least for me, when I used to moralize a lot it was because it is simply the cultural norm to do so. Where does that norm come from? See: the intellectual history of a given culture. In America, at least, the moralizing comes to us from two main currents, one secular and one religious. The religious one is explicitly Christian in orientation, a religion that has much to say on the concept of "good" and "evil." The secular one comes to us from philosophy and law, such as Locke's works and the general philosophy of natural/moral law. The secular one was more baked in to the nation's founding but pretty much everyone was also Christian at the time so that was also there too. In any case, where that comes from is definitely not Pagan, indigenous, or polytheist in orientation.

You're suggesting ancient societies didn't moralize before monotheism?

 

[Quintessence]

You're suggesting ancient societies didn't moralize before monotheism?

No - I'm referencing the two main currents that influenced the intellectual development of modern ethics and morality in contemporary Western cultures. Though it is important to note that explicitly marrying religion and morality was very much a thing Christianity brought to the table. That led to a particular breed of righteousness that is... well, it's a thing that happened.