Criticism of monotheism

Monotheism has attracted criticism throughout the history of the concept. Opponents of Akhenaten restored polytheism in ancient Egypt following his death. Although Abrahamic monotheism later achieved widespread prominence, critics have described monotheism as a cause of ignorance, narrow-mindedness, oppression, and violence. David Hume (1711–1776) wrote that monotheism is less pluralistic and thus less tolerant than polytheism,^[1] because monotheism stipulates that people pigeonhole their beliefs into one tenet.^[2] In the same vein, Auguste Comte said that "Monotheism is irreconcilable with the existence in our nature of the instincts of benevolence" because it compels followers to devote themselves to a single Creator.^[3] Mark S. Smith, an American biblical scholar and ancient historian, wrote that monotheism has been a "totalizing discourse", often co-opting all aspects of a social belief system, resulting in the exclusion of "others".^[4] Regina Schwartz portrays monotheism as an instigator of violence because (for example) it inspired the monotheistic Israelites to wage war upon the Canaanites who believed in multiple gods.^[5]

Other critics have associated monotheism with intolerance, patriarchal structures, moral rigidity, and violence. Figures such as Friedrich Nietzsche, James Lovelock, and Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan have argued that monotheistic belief can restrict imagination, suppress diversity, and justify aggression against those with differing worldviews.