A colleague offered me the following piece of correspondence from the Financial Times. It is a letter written by Dr. Gautam Pingle, who serves as a dean with the College of India. He writes:
Sir,
[unimportant first para deleted] Intolerance bred by the monotheism of the People of the Book — mostly Christian and Muslim — in their mutual and conflicting wars and quest for world domination embroiled mankind in hatred and maasacres of each other and “the other” over the past 1,700 years. Even today, we see the baleful effects of residual monotheism and its apocalyptic vision.
Fortunately, in some parts of this troubled planet, the polytheistic tendency, with its signal notion encouraging inclusion, seems to be gaining ground and legitimacy — after its long nightmare — in the guise of secularism.
I find it fascinating that this writer equates polytheism with secularism. An interesting thought.
It is provocative enough for me to ask people to read my own in depth investigation of secularism (The End of Secularism) and to encourage my fellow academics, analysts, cultural researchers, etc. to join me in the project of scholarly work about secularism. There is much to do and we only gain in the course of civil confrontation.
November 24th, 2009 | 4:51 pm | #1
I can’t tell if he is literally equating the two or merely celebrating an important similarity.
They are definitely different things, but I can see how some forms of secularism can mesh very nicely with certain forms of paganism.
But I wonder. Is Dr. Pingle a Hindu? If so, his complaints about those intolerant monotheists ring hollow.
November 24th, 2009 | 6:50 pm | #2
It is odd to hear someone connect polytheism and secularism, especially as the latter is not always so tolerant of those disagreeing with its approach. In this context those who talk so readily of tolerance can often prove to be the most intolerant of all.
November 24th, 2009 | 7:47 pm | #3
What is equally silly is the notion that polytheism is some how more tolerant. Polytheism in the ancient near east led to just as many wars. In Greek and Roman times “polytheists” were hardly bastions of tolerance. The minute somebody denied the gods, or argued for monotheism, the were generally introduced to a lambasting that could culminate with the edge of a sword or a playful jaunt with some lions.
November 25th, 2009 | 6:43 am | #4
Funny thing is that our own “secularists” wouldn’t really find India’s political order all that secular, since it distinguishes as a matter of law among different religious groups. It is a *kind* of secularism, but pretty distinct from its Western, laicite sort.
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