What Is Monotheism Really About?

[TMT]

Monotheism is about obedience and ignorance more than anything. The world has been a violent place for a long time (http://www.thelemapedia.org/index.php/Aeons) and there were plenty of problems with ancient Polytheist societies for sure but at least there was a desire for knowledge and advancement, it's been nothing but restriction and ignorance since Christianity and Islam took off.

 

[grateful servant]

Monotheism is about obedience and ignorance more than anything. The world has been a violent place for a long time (http://www.thelemapedia.org/index.php/Aeons) and there were plenty of problems with ancient Polytheist societies for sure but at least there was a desire for knowledge and advancement, it's been nothing but restriction and ignorance since Christianity and Islam took off.

No offense, but that's the most ignorant statement I've read here.

 

[TMT]

No offense, but that's the most ignorant statement I've read here.

On a site full of religious fundamentalists? I doubt that.

 

[Red Sky at Morning]

For the ignorant among us, I can't help but wonder how a pantheon of warring deities is automatically more intellectually credible that the idea of a self existent God, whose attributes are not merely a reflection of our own?

Am I missing something here?

 

[Etagloc]

People misrepresent my position. I am not arguing for polytheism or for any particular belief. No one here knows my beliefs, because I haven't explained them. I am not here to promote my beliefs.

People make these assumptions based on preconceived ways of thinking, assuming I think how they think. I am not out to promote any particular set of beliefs. I don't want you to follow my beliefs. I don't want you to leave your religion.

I don't want all the birds to look the same. I don't want the earth to be without mountains. I don't want the entire world to follow one religion, to be of one tongue or to be of a single color.

The entire world following a single religion sounds like a dystopian nightmare- it would effectively be a One World Order.

Discord is fertility.

Discord

by Ricardo Flores Magón

(translated from the Spanish):

Imagine the earth without mountains, the ocean without waves, the heavens without stars, the flower without colors. Imagine all the birds adorned in the same plumage, all the insects displaying the same form and color. Imagine the plains without any rises, without any unevennesd; sand and pebbles here, sand and pebbles there, sand and pebbles everywhere; not a tree, not a shrub; nothing to break the monotony of the landscape, nothing to interrupt the uniformity of the scene; neither a brook that murmurs, nor a canary that sings, nor a breeze to remind that there is movement, that there is action. Imagine, finally, a humanity, without passions, all having the same tastes, all thinking in the same way, and decide whether it would not be preferable to die at once than to suffer the prolonged death agony of having no choice but to live under these conditions.

Order, uniformity, symmetry appear to be better than death. Life is disorder, is struggle, is critique, is disagreement, is a tumult of passions. From this chaos emerges beauty, from this confusion emerges science; from criticism, from conflict, from discord, from the tumult of passions, beams of light shine like embers, yet are enormous like suns: truth and liberty. Discord: here you have the great creative agent that works in nature. The actions and the reactions in inorganic and organic material, generators of movement, of heat, of light, of beauty: what are they if not the work of discord? Breaking the monotony of the simple substances, discord brings them closer to each other, mixes them, combines them, crushes them to bits and transports them from one place to another: the iron that sleeps in the entrails of the earth is the same that blazes across the terrestrial atmosphere as a meteorite, that reddens the lips of a woman, and that gleams in the blade of a dagger; the carbon that appears black in the ashes of a fire is the same that appears green and handsome in the leaves of plants, clear like a droplet of dew in a diamond, warm and endearing the breath of a beloved woman. All is transformed by discord: it dissolves and creates, destroys and creates.

In human societies, discord plays the most important role. An innovator, it breaks the old molds and creates new ones; it destroys traditions that are cherished, but which are pernicious to progress, and it puts new longings, new fires into tbe soul of the people, after it has extinguished the embers that still warn the cold, senile old ideals. An aesthete, it pushes art from its beaten path and makes it take new routes, where there are sources the literary herd has not yet discovered, new colors, new harmonies, unexpected turns of phrase that have never existed on any palette, that have never vibrated in any string, which have never spring like jets of light from any pen. Always revolutionary, discord makes disgust ferment in proletarian breasts until, their nerves stressed until they are ready to snap, desperation makes hands search for rocks, bombs, daggers, revolvers, rifles, and men cast themselves against injustice, each one disposed to be a hero.

While the poor acquiede to being poor, while the oppressed acquiese to being slaves there will be no liberty, there will be no progress. But when discord tempts the heart of the humble, when it comes and tells them that while they suffer their masters rejoice, and that we all have the right to rejoice and to live, the passions then blaze and they destroy and create at the same time, ravage and cultivate, demolish and build. Blessed be discord!

(now, he clearly had a political message and he was writing in a political context- the political aspect is another matter but- I post the writing for the metaphysical aspect- the metaphysical aspect, that life is struggle, is discord, etc.- I think is profound and also resonates with certain teachings, I think, in Islam and Buddhism)

 

[Hubert]

Monotheism is about control.

Religion is about control, Monotheism is just the most effective form.

 

[Etagloc]

Hello Fellow VC members.
So Eta has set me up for a big position here in our small corner of cyberspace.

I will take that nomination for a VCF peace prize, with seriousness.
I thank him for calling us out to such an ideal.
I was blessed to have grown up with people of diverse backgrounds and cultures.
I was always aware that there are good and bad in every group.
I am glad that at this moment in time most members on here have reinforced that belief,
Keep sharing your beliefs as teachers not as adversaries, God willing.
Eta:
Muslims say Islam is perfect but people are not perfect.
Quran: 2;256

Sahih International
There shall be no compulsion in [acceptance of] the religion. The right course has become clear from the wrong. So whoever disbelieves in Taghut (false beliefs)and believes in Allah has grasped the most trustworthy handhold with no break in it. And Allah is Hearing and Knowing.

There were people in our history who have lived up to our ideals and moments that people have not, unfortunately. We pray for times of justice and peace on earth.
We have no doubt that this will come with the rightly guided brethren and with the advent of Prophet Jesus peace be upon him.

What is Islamic monotheism about? In a nutshell:

"Islam is not a new religion, rather it is the continuation of the same Truth that God revealed to all of His prophets starting from Adam and culminating with Muhammad (peace be upon all of them), to the entire mankind.
One God: Accepting the absolute unity of Allah (God) is the most important article of faith for a Muslim (one who follows Islam). Monotheism is a theme that is frequently emphasized in the Holy Qur’an - the scripture that Muslims believe was revealed by the Lord to Prophet Muhammad - and the famous sentence that states: There is no creature or deity worthy of worship except Allah is the foundation stone of Islam.
Some of the attributes of God that are mentioned in the Qur’an which serve to provide a better understanding of our relationship with the Almighty are: The Merciful, The Generous, The Just, The Forgiving, The Master, The Wise, The All-Knowing, The All-Hearing, The All-Seeing, The All-Powerful, The Peaceful, among many others.

The Qur’an introduces Allah in the following way:

“Say: He, Allah is One, Allah the Eternal. He begets not, nor was He begotten, and there is nothing that is equal to Him.” (al-Qur’an, Chapter 112, Verses 1-4)

In another chapter of the Qur’an, God describes himself as such:

“He is Allah besides Whom there is no god; the Knower of the unseen and the seen; He is the Beneficent, the Merciful. He is Allah, besides Whom there is no god; the King, the Holy, the Giver of Peace, the Granter of Security, Guardian over all, the Mighty, the Supreme, the Possessor of every greatness.” (al-Qur’an, Chapter 49, Verse 22-23)

Prophethood: Muslims believe that out of His loving care for humanity, Allah sent Prophets to guide mankind. This golden chain of divinely appointed individuals began with Adam, who was the first Prophet, as well as the first human being; and ended with Muhammad, the last Messenger."

Quran 24:46


Sahih International: We have certainly sent down distinct verses. And Allah guides whom He wills to a straight path.

DR: I have been travelling and am going through a busy phase (personal)
Switching to lurker mode for now although the site is addictive.
I saw this video and remembered Floss likes this guy.
Maybe he can agree with Nabeel's sentiments God willing.
I remember being grateful on the old board for some of Floss's comments during heated exchanges.
Perhaps that Floss can come back to us. A prayer and hope.
May the Creator of the heavens and earth guide Nabeel and heal him from his ailments.Also, may the Creator of the heavens and earth guide us all to his straight path. Ameen.

DR: I pray that we become part of the world's solutions and not part of the world's problems. Ameen.

Nabeel Qureshi : I don't condone the use of my videos to attack Islam and Muslims (video)

 

[Etagloc]

funny how THE ELITE wants us to distract us all from the real issues!

 

[Etagloc]

 

[Etagloc]

 

[Etagloc]

Young whippersnappers!!!!!!!!

GET!!!! OFF!!! MY!!! LAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWN!!!!!!

 

[Illuminized]

The Christian form of monotheism is an antipathy derived from a sense of inferiority and an attempt to consolidate power. The symbolic trinity - a conception not limited to Christianity - was distorted into an absurdity.

I make exceptions for the Jewish and Muslim form of monotheism, even if it is still hostile to life and reason. In their case, monotheism was used as a rallying cry. Julian and Porphyry suggest that the Jews were originally polytheists. This can be seen in the remnant commandment Exodus 22:28, the condemnation Amos 5:26, and in Deuteronomy 32:8-9 and it's corresponding Midrash Genesis Rabbah commentary.

Akhenaten did not teach monotheism; Atenism has nothing to do with Judaism. In his Hymn to the Aten, when he describes the three phases of the sun, he signifies a trinity.


"Many Christians of this period–amongst them sectaries who had abandoned the old philosophy, men of the schools of Adelphius and Aquilinus–had possessed themselves of works by Alexander of Libya, by Philocomus, by Demostratus, and by Lydus, and exhibited also Revelations bearing the names of Zoroaster, Zostrianus, Nicotheus, Allogenes, Mesus, and others of that order. Thus they fooled many, themselves fooled first; Plato, according to them, had failed to penetrate into the depth of Intellectual Being. Plotinus fequently attacked their position at the Conferences and finally wrote the treatise which I have headed Against the Gnostics: he left to us of the circle the task of examining what he himself passed over." - Porphyry

"In every way they misrepresent Plato's theory as to the method of creation as in many other respects they dishonour his teaching: they, we are to understand, have penetrated the Intellectual Nature, while Plato and all those other illustrious teachers have failed. They hope to get the credit of minute and exact identification by setting up a plurality of intellectual Essences; but in reality this multiplication lowers the Intellectual Nature to the level of the Sense-Kind: their true course is to seek to reduce number to the least possible in the Supreme, simply referring all things to the Second Hypostasis..." - Plotinus

"It is curious to observe how the theory of what is called the Christian Church, sprung out of the tail of the heathen mythology. A direct incorporation took place in the first instance, by making the reputed founder to be celestially begotten. The trinity of gods that then followed was no other than a reduction of the former plurality, which was about twenty or thirty thousand. The statue of Mary succeeded the statue of Diana of Ephesus. The deification of heroes changed into the canonization of saints. The Mythologists had gods for everything; the Christian Mythologists had saints for everything. The church became as crowded with the one, as the pantheon had been with the other; and Rome was the place of both. The Christian theory is little else than the idolatry of the ancient mythologists, accommodated to the purposes of power and revenue; and it yet remains to reason and philosophy to abolish the amphibious fraud." - Thomas Paine

 

[Etagloc]

Woah! Do I agree with everything in Christianity? No.

But to be perfectly honest, I agree with pretty much like 90% of the Bible and the Quran.

The moral teachings are sound. And the Day of Judgement is a fact. I have no doubt as to its reality.

The only thing I disagree with is the concept of there only be a single One Ultimate Religion.

I don't think God is going to judge us by which religion we follow- I don't think one person will be saved and one person will be condemned simply on the basis of what religion they happened to be born into.

But.... Christianity should be abolished? That sounds like some Illuminati stuff. It's a little extreme. Let people follow whatever.

 

[Karlysymon]

The Mythologists had gods for everything; the Christian Mythologists had saints for everything. The church became as crowded with the one, as the pantheon had been with the other; and Rome was the place of both.

Answer

You ( or Thomas Paine) making a common mistake - confusing Medieval Roman Catholicism with
Christianity.

And where are biblical texts about the specific roles of saints upon ascencion? Or praying to them, for that matter?

The only thing I disagree
with is the concept of there only be a single One
Ultimate Religion.

The world as it is now can never be united under a single religion. There will always be dissenters.
But, its also a universal truth that there is only one truth to anything. 2+2=4. There is no other truth to the sum of 2&2. It can only be 4. Either the grass is green or it isn't. Either there are 5 Etaglocs on VCF or there aren't . Either Jupiter has 67 moons or it doesn't. Same goes with religion....just my POV

 

[Etagloc]

I am not denying that there is a truth.... I believe there is a God and a truth and such...

I just don't think God is Jewish, Christian or Muslim.

I don't think any of those scriptures fell from the sky.

 

[Etagloc]

 

[Red Sky at Morning]

I am not denying that there is a truth.... I believe there is a God and a truth and such...

I just don't think God is Jewish, Christian or Muslim.

I don't think any of those scriptures fell from the sky.

I posted this one elsewhere but I was interested in the take Anonymous had on truth...

 

[Etagloc]

I posted this one elsewhere but I was interested in the take Anonymous had on truth...

what do they say? it's too long for me to watch for data reasons

 

[Etagloc]

personally, i dont believe them tho lol

 

[mecca]

I am not denying that there is a truth.... I believe there is a God and a truth and such...

I just don't think God is Jewish, Christian or Muslim.

I don't think any of those scriptures fell from the sky.

They were written down by people.