‘Does he really believe that multiple gods and goddesses exist and affect human bevavior?’
of the billions of people who have existed on earth, a large percentage of them believed and continue to believe exactly that...why is their belief sytem any less credible than a monotheistic one..?
All serious studies of comparative religion and culture demonstrate how religous beliefs affect individual behavior and the ultimate success of a civilization. Few will deny that the Calvinist view of man’s ultimate destiny was a huge factor in the historic individual capitalist achievements that created great wealth and aspirations. Nor can it be denied that an equally firmly held belief in a caste system leads to non productive stagnation whatever other talents and latent abilities such believers may have. Humans are theonly species known to have an advanced capacity for mysticism. That mysticism is expressed even in athiests and agnostics in a myriad of ways. How it is expressed tells much about an individual and his or her behavior beyond the rituals.