“Polytheism. Too many gods, competing with other gods, having sex with other gods, and humans...”
Really, do you want to go there? A god did it with a virgin mortal, resulting in a hybrid who was offered as a human/demigod sacrifice so that all who sinned afterward only need accept this story to attain salvation?
I don’t see that as being any different from the other stories that were developed in every tribe throughout human history to be able to connect with the Divine.
And let us remember that “pagan” [according to Webster’s] means any religion that is not based upon the God of Abraham [viz, Christianity, Judaism, Islam]. Every other religion that did not develop in a place where there is a lot of sand is invalid by definition.
So to attempt to characterize every Pagan religion that developed on every continent as some sort of theological monolith is beyond dishonest and myopic.
But for those who are interested in the actual truth, most Pagans believe that there is a One of which we are all a part. Then on the next layer down are the gods. They may have been fashioned and conjured by us. They may be expressions of the Almighty toward people at a certain place or time that they would accept as Divine.
The main difference between Pagans and Abrahamists is that we do not presume to pronounce Judgment upon another person’s immortal soul based upon whether our limited vision of the Infinite is accepted. We do not to know the mind of the Almighty and consider ourselves tasked to carry out Divine Will when it comes to unbelievers.
We do not think that the Divine made a mistake in creating those who have different visions of the Infinite, so we must then rape, slaughter and pillage those who are deemed damned already in their disbelief.
Hitler was a pagan. So was Heinrich Himmler. Swell couple of guys, weren;t they?
Old Testament for me, thanks.
“Sh’ma Yisrael: Adonai elohenu. Adonai echad.”
——Abrahamists——
Ahhh..... that is an interesting concept of amalgamation.