The New Polytheism (1975) by David Miller, grew out of the God is Dead movement of the 1960s and 1970s. Professor of Religion at Syracuse University, Miller proposed that, although the monotheistic religions are losing their theological impact, Westerners still think monotheistically, but only on the surface. What does it mean to think monotheistically? It means to think that, like the dogma of one God, there is an intellectual game afoot that there is only one single truth, one valid method of knowing, one dominant culture, and others are wrong. Thus, some religions claim exclusive dogmatic truth, and others are “heathen.” Scientism today adopts the monotheistic tactic and claims that science is the only valid method of knowing the truth (Stenmark 2001, p. vii). Monotheistic fundamentalism makes self-righteous aggressive intrusions into public policy. This exclusivism has brought with it many battles, such as the long-standing monotheistic efforts to eradicate the world’s many...
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Bailey, L.W. (2020). New Polytheism. In: Leeming, D.A. (eds) Encyclopedia of Psychology and Religion. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-24348-7_9310
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