Some Muslim posters on CEMB have proudly asserted that Islam came to end idolatry & Trinity!
So in their view, idolatry & trinity are abominations, & monotheism is a huge improvement, even if it contributes little else.
Thus some Trinitarians maybe very advanced in wealth, education, human rights while some strict monotheists maybe luxuriating in the most abysmal ignorance, but nevertheless monotheism's in itself an improvement.
Monotheism is the belief that there exists exactly one god. Polytheism speaks of many gods and goddesses, each with his or her special jurisdiction or function. Often, a god or goddess would oversee a particular tribe or nation and would either compete with or cooperate with the deities of other nations. Belief in a single creator superceded polytheism in Judaism, Christian, and Islamic(& Zoroastrian) cultures.
The gods and goddess of polytheism were not necessarily creators, and usually had weaknesses just like humans have. Theologians tell us the gods of monotheism are all-powerful (omnipotent), all-knowing (omniscient) and sometimes all-merciful. The monotheistic god has no equals or superiors. If a monotheistic god has a desk, the sign on it says, "The Buck Stops Here."
Islamic theologians almost universally regard monotheism as an improvement over polytheism.
This prompts atheists to ask, if belief in one god is an improvement over belief in many goddesses and gods, would belief in no gods be a further improvement over belief in one god? Nevertheless, monotheism's claims to superiority over polytheism are lacking in several ways:
First, monotheism's claims to being true are no more believable than those of polytheism. One can use every traditional argument used for the existence of one god, to argue for the existence of many gods or goddesses.
No traditional theistic argument eliminates the notion that more than one god may have worked on the project.Furthermore, how could we assert that the god who created this Universe was not, himself, created by an even bigger god ? If the Universe needs a creator to explain its existence, then the creator, being that much more complex, needs to be explained. Otherwise, we are free to rest in the fact that the Universe simply exists, period.
Finally, if
monotheism is considered an improvement over polytheism simply because it did away with multiple gods, shouldn't atheism be considered the ultimate improvement because it did away with the last remaining God?
Just like so much of the world has done away with multiple gods, a notion which was unthinkable 3000 years ago & limited to a few people like Jews & Zoroastrians, would much of the world one day subtract the last remaining God?
Topic: If Monotheism's an improvement over polytheism, then Atheism's the best!