Do centralised authoritarian political regimes tend to move in the direction: polytheism-->monotheism?

Question

Just an idea I'm musing about......

Answer 1

Name one political regime with that pattern and I'll blow you.

Answer 2

I think they push atheism more than anything.  Faith or religion gives people something other than the regime to believe in which is generaly seen as unproductive.

Answer 3

I would say not necessarily... Hitler certainly moved Germany to a more Christian nation but it was never really polytheistic.

China is anti all religions (however MANY different types still flourish). The USSR was similar against all different religions and tried to destroy the Catholic church but it never really disappeared, it simply had less obvious signs (such as churches etc).

I think if there is a State (official) religion then that is pushed, and that invariably is monotheistic or at the very least self righteous enough to claim to be the only "truth" when it comes to religion...  otherwise all traditions are suppressed, in which case whatever is there will simply go under ground rather then moving to one tradition. You may be thinking about India versus Pakistan? But Pakistan used to be part of India and it was only because of tensions that the Muslims demanded a separation.

You are right though that authoritarian regimes do push the black and white, us versus them, we know the truth and everyone else is stupid etc divisive line of thinking...

Answer 4

With specific referance to the Roman Empire:

In the early imperial period Rome actively used polytheism for their own benefit. It was easy for newly conquered peoples to equate their own gods with those of Rome (eg a native god or goddess becomes synonymous with the roman equivalent - Sulis & Minerva would be a British example), which meant that it was easy to establish the roman temples and, eventually the imperial cult (worship of the deified emperor). Religion was used as a form of control.

Officially the state waas happy with you worshipping your own gods as long as you worshipped theirs as well. This is why Rome persecutted Jews and Christians, because they refused to worship any other gods but theirs.

So polytheism was in the state's interest.That said, the roman empire eventually converted to christianity. The religious organisation of the empire became inseperable from the political administration in later periods with bishops taking the role of governors, and the empire divided into dioceses.

Polytheism served well during a time of growth. Both served as a form of control. I'm not sure though that the move is tied up with the form of government. Christianity continued to spread after the collapse of the Roman empire, in a period when (Britain at least) was completely devoid of any real centralised authority.

I think the answer to your question is bound up in whether or not you can find an example of people moving back to polytheism. Certainly there is evidence that after Rome left britain the church suffered and native people went back to 'paganism', but this does not last, monotheism prevails without the dictat of centralised authority.