“In the past 10,000 years, humans have devised roughly 100,000 religions based on roughly 2,500 gods. So the only difference between myself and the believers is that I am skeptical of 2,500 gods whereas they are skeptical of 2,499 gods. We’re only one God away from total agreement.”
– Michael Shermer
23
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12 comments
Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.Good post. I'm of the opinion of the many below that there are many more gods. Oh so many gods. African nativism has a god for just about every thing and every idea. Little gods to go with what ever major gods different tribes worship.
Beowulfsfriend
Level 9
Apr 20, 2019
1
Every church, temple, mosque, shrine,.... is a different religion. The beliefs of each congregation are unique. No matter the ascribed label. This means there are at least 500,000 religions at this time.
JacarC
Level 8
Apr 19, 2019
2
And they all started with the fear of death and the shortness of life...
All designed to give certain males dominance over those believes these psychotic sociopaths!
of-the-mountain
Level 9
Apr 18, 2019
0
Er, mankind in the multiple millenia that it has been around in has created, adored and worshiped more than 300,000 different Gods/Goddesses, not the 'miniscule' amount that Michael Schermer cited.
Hinduism, for example, has 3,000+ deities alone, the Ancient Greek Pantheon had well over 2,000 Major and Minor Deities, the Ancient Romans had well over 2,000 Major and Minor Deities as well and that is NOT adding in the ones they 'adopted' from both older cultures and cultures of the lands and people they conquered they.
Christianity, aka christinsanity, CLAIMS to be monotheistic BUT in truth and logic it has 3 major Gods, 1 Goddess and a pantheon of Minor ones, aka Saints, especially the Catholic side of things.
Of the 300,000+ deities I'd adamantly say that ABSOLUTELY NONE of them exist nor have ever existed except in the imaginations and machinations of human kind.
Triphid
Level 9
Apr 18, 2019
7
Great information and beautifully stated. Thank you!!!
@Redheadedgammy No probs, just putting across the facts, that's all.
This is why the Romans called the new cult of Christians atheists, because they only believed in one god. Of course, not all religions are monotheistic. So, some religious groups are perfectly fine with accepting any and all new gods that they learn about.
Curious1
Level 4
Apr 18, 2019
2
But that one God is the sticking point.
UpsideDownAgain
Level 7
Apr 18, 2019
2
No, both Muslims and Christians believe in the same god, just cal him/her differently.
Jolanta
Level 9
Apr 18, 2019
2
@F-IM-Forty Actually they don't. You know God in english is not the same word as God in Arabic. It's a language thing. Just like Jews also believe in the same god as do Christians and Muslims.
@goldenvalleyguy Fame. Can't get enough.
Only 2,500 Gods? I can personally name 300 Gods from Hinduism alone. That faith has 330 million Gods with a name for each. Holy cow from India has all Gods inside her. That's why Hindus don't eat beef. When you will visit India, you will see stray cows sitting in the middle of streets, people touching her and touching their foreheads for blessings, cows walking on highways... lol
St-Sinner
Level 9
Apr 18, 2019
4
True....Hinduism has a retarded number of Gods and one of the main reasons for that is because it is one of the oldest religions which also means it was a time when people didn't understand nature. For example when you go into the villages, the goddesses worshipped there are actually diseases. The belief is that when this particular god gets angry the village suffers an outbreak.
Similarly to all the old religions it also had a god each for every aspect of nature, weather etc.
And on the cow topic, they also believe that cow urine is holy. I actually saw a guy walk behind a peeing cow and scoop a lil to drink it and apply it on his forehead. Just saw this once having lived my entire life in India but I think you would agree, once is enough 
@realist1028 I think even once was too much. We all can do without this ignorance in our lives.
@realist1028 it was the thing to have a god in the family, somehow. It was a thing.
Shinto has almost everything in nature as a god with spirit. But at least they don't punish you or send you to hell, nor are they anti-sex.
Actually, the ancient Egyptians had over 8,000 major and minor deities. Which necessitated a huge class of freeloaders, er, uh, 'priests' to properly 'worship' them all. Why so many? Well, each god or goddess had to have parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, sons, daughters, nieces, nephews, the whole shebang!
davknight
Level 8
Apr 18, 2019
1
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