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Polytheism--key to world peace?


In order to bring about a peaceful, unified world, insisted Jean-Pierre Lehmann in the March 30 issue of the Globalist, "we should ... eradicate monotheistic religion in favor of polytheistic pol·y·the·ism  
n.
The worship of or belief in more than one god.



[French polythéisme, from Greek polutheos, polytheistic : polu-, poly- + theos, god
 religion."

Lehmann is a key adviser to World Trade Organization director general Supachai Panitchpakdi Supachai Panitchpakdi (Thai: ศุภชัย พานิชภักดิ์  and founder of the Evian Group, a body of prominent and influential people from Asia and Europe organized for the purpose of promoting "global governance Global governance refers to political interaction and the creation and empowering of international organizations aimed at solving problems that affect more than one state or region, when there is no democratic power of enforcing compliance. ." He cites the case of Abdul Rahman as evidence of the latent lethality of all monotheism monotheism (mŏn`əthēĭzəm) [Gr.,=belief in one God], in religion, a belief in one personal god. In practice, monotheistic religion tends to stress the existence of one personal god that unifies the universe. . Rahman is the Afghan citizen arraigned in Kabul for the supposed crime of becoming a Christian, a capital offense under Islamic Sharia law.

While criticizing the contemporary depredations of Islamist regimes and terrorists, Lehmann insists that "Christianity was even worse in its own heyday.... Although both Christianity and Islam The historical interaction between Christianity and Islam, in the field of comparative religion, connects fundamental ideas in Christianity with similar ones in Islam. Islam and Christianity share their origins in the Abrahamic tradition though Christianity predates Islam by six  each have their strong points, without doubt, on balance their historical record would show more liabilities, more warfare, more intolerance, more persecution, than truly positive assets."

Lehmann calls for a concerted campaign to "eradicate monotheistic religion in favor of polytheistic religion," drawing on India as an example. He dismisses some unpleasant aspects of the Hindu culture, such as intolerant fundamentalism and the caste system, as "anomalies."

As an advocate of global government, Lehmann likely promotes polytheism polytheism (pŏl`ēthēĭzəm), belief in a plurality of gods in which each deity is distinguished by special functions. The gods are particularly synonymous with function in the Vedic religion (see Vedas) of India: Indra is the  not because it is true or beautiful, but because it is useful. Where belief in the One True God relegates government to a properly subordinate role, polytheism reduces religious faith to mere consumer preferences that can be manipulated by ruling elites to their advantage.
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Title Annotation:INSIDER REPORT
Publication:The New American
Article Type:Brief article
Geographic Code:1USA
Date:May 1, 2006
Words:253
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