Duotheism vs. Polytheism

[Arinya]

It was said (in chat) that the polytheistic view is more respectful then the duotheistic view but the duotheistic makes more sense.

This topic came up in chat and I really don't understand what was meant and I was told to ask the Druids, Heathens, and Reconstructionlist Witches why this why...which I also don't understand! Help!

So, do you feel that the polytheistic view is more respectful then the duotheistic view?

[Morr]

i voted "other"...
i think that every form of belief wether its polytheistic, duotheistic or even monotheistic can be equally respectful - but it depends on the person and on the worshippers of this path.

[ancestral_lee]

It was said (in chat) that the polytheistic view is more respectful then the duotheistic view but the duotheistic makes more sense.

This topic came up in chat and I really don't understand what was meant and I was told to ask the Druids, Heathens, and Reconstructionlist Witches why this why...which I also don't understand! Help!

So, do you feel that the polytheistic view is more respectful then the duotheistic view?

i dont see where respect comes into it, respectful with reference to whom? the gods? i mean if you look at it there ARE lots of them.

they are just different ways of connecting with deity.

[Arinya]

they are just different ways of connecting with deity.

You see that's what I thought!
This thread is really just my attempt at trying to understand a chat conversation...I hope I can figure this out

[Valentinius]

I think what they would have been saying was that it is easier to accomodate other peoples gods in a polytheistic point of view. considering there are allready quite a few gods in your pantheon what would it matter to have a few more. Nevertheless I don't think this annalysis would be correct because a religion is just a religion it is the people who practice the religion who bring it to life. Therefor it is not the religion itself that is respectfull but the person practicing it. Unluckily disrespectfull people exist allover the place whatever their religion.

Nevertheless I was wondering, what you meant by duotheistic makes more sense?

[Arinya]

Nevertheless I was wondering, what you meant by duotheistic makes more sense?

That was also said in the chat. I think what he meant by it was that in a duotheistic sense all the Gods are part of the God and all the Goddesses are part of the Goddess. This apparently makes more sense...I can feel in my mind a little bit that it might make more sense...but I can't put into words why right now. It's almost 6am and I need sleep and time to think on this.

[mothwench]

It was said (in chat) that the polytheistic view is more respectful then the duotheistic view but the duotheistic makes more sense.

This topic came up in chat and I really don't understand what was meant and I was told to ask the Druids, Heathens, and Reconstructionlist Witches why this why...which I also don't understand! Help!

So, do you feel that the polytheistic view is more respectful then the duotheistic view?
:huh: i don't understand the question. there's respect, or lack of respect, in any path.
*wanders off scratching head*

edited to add: who said you should ask the recons? if i should know an answer to this, well then i guess i'm a bad recon. :hehehehe:

[HorseCrow]

Hmm.... I don't think I'm getting the question.... respectful- to whom, what, where, how? No wonder you're confused *lol*

[DebLipp]

I understand the statement about respect, although I think it's so oversimplified as to become false, even with a seed of truth.

Look at it this way: You are a human, a woman, and an individual. I can choose to perceive you in a "mono" way (as human), in a "duo" way (as woman) or in a "poly" way (as Arinya). If I treated you strictly as a woman, and assumed that I knew everything there was to know about you because you were a woman and I understood women, that would be disrespectful of your individuality. It would be offensive!

Just so, when worshiping individual deities, some Pagans make the mistake of lumping a bunch of names in the "duo" stew and stirring. This is, indeed, disrespectful of the individual deity. However, I don't think it follows that duotheism is inherently disrespectful. Treating an individual as an individual while acknowledging that individual as part of a greater, duotheistic whole can be quite respectful. Worshiping only the Lord and Lady, without worship of indivdual deities, is also respectful.

[Valentinius]

That was also said in the chat. I think what he meant by it was that in a duotheistic sense all the Gods are part of the God and all the Goddesses are part of the Goddess. This apparently makes more sense...I can feel in my mind a little bit that it might make more sense...but I can't put into words why right now. It's almost 6am and I need sleep and time to think on this.

And what would you say if I told you a monotheistic point of view was more logique beacause male and female are just two aspects of one thing: divinity. I don't think one can say any system is more logique than another. whether one, two or an infinity of gods these gods are just ways of expressing a symbol or a principle. wether you want to express all these principles by onem, two, three or more godheads is up to you.

[Mòrag Elasaid Ní Dhòmhnaill]

And what would you say if I told you a monotheistic point of view was more logique beacause male and female are just two aspects of one thing: divinity. I don't think one can say any system is more logique than another. whether one, two or an infinity of gods these gods are just ways of expressing a symbol or a principle. wether you want to express all these principles by onem, two, three or more godheads is up to you.

Velentinius, you may want to be a little more careful about how you express certain opinions you hold. Everyone does not necessarily share your opinon, so when you express your opinoins as facts, which is what you appear to have done above, it completely ignores/denies the very different beliefs of others. My gods are not just a way "of expressing a symbol or principle." They are very real and individual beings, no less real to me than my husband or my son.

As for the respect issue, I think DebLipp did a great job of explaining it. Her analogy of human/woman/person was spot on. I personally prefer to not be lumped into a category. I'm not just a human or just a woman. I'm me. I would find it quite disrespectful to be treated no different than any other one. I would also be just as offended if you treated every other woman in the same way you treated me. So that's where the issue of respect comes in. I am not you, and you are not me. Would you like to be told that really we were no different just because we both happen to be women? It's the same way with the gods. I just can't understand the concept that Lugh and Mercury (whom the Romans conflated this god with) are really just the same god with different names.

So yes, I do think the idea of "all gods are one god, and all goddesses are one goddess" is disrespectful. However, that doesn't mean duotheism in itself is disrespectful. One can be a duotheist and just worship the God and Goddess, or Lord and Lady without attributing names of individual deities to them.

[Athena-Nadine]

Velentinius, you may want to be a little more careful about how you express certain opinions you hold. Everyone does not necessarily share your opinon, so when you express your opinoins as facts, which is what you appear to have done above, it completely ignores/denies the very different beliefs of others. My gods are not just a way "of expressing a symbol or principle." They are very real and individual beings, no less real to me than my husband or my son.

As for the respect issue, I think DebLipp did a great job of explaining it. Her analogy of human/woman/person was spot on. I personally prefer to not be lumped into a category. I'm not just a human or just a woman. I'm me. I would find it quite disrespectful to be treated no different than any other one. I would also be just as offended if you treated every other woman in the same way you treated me. So that's where the issue of respect comes in. I am not you, and you are not me. Would you like to be told that really we were no different just because we both happen to be women? It's the same way with the gods. I just can't understand the concept that Lugh and Mercury (whom the Romans conflated this god with) are really just the same god with different names.

So yes, I do think the idea of "all gods are one god, and all goddesses are one goddess" is disrespectful. However, that doesn't mean duotheism in itself is disrespectful. One can be a duotheist and just worship the God and Goddess, or Lord and Lady without attributing names of individual deities to them.
You beat me to it this time! :lol: I swear, I'm starting to feel like we're becoming a tag team. ;)

[DebLipp]

So yes, I do think the idea of "all gods are one god, and all goddesses are one goddess" is disrespectful. However, that doesn't mean duotheism in itself is disrespectful. One can be a duotheist and just worship the God and Goddess, or Lord and Lady without attributing names of individual deities to them.

I don't think it's disrespectful, because I think you do learn something important about me by knowing I'm a woman and acknowledging my commonality with other women, as long as you don't stop there. It's disrespectful to stop there, to just lump Kali, the Morrigan, and Hecate together as "dark goddess" without acknowledging their potent individuality. But to include a knowledge of their commonality and then respectfully acknowledge the individual would be a very respectful way for a duotheist to work with an individual deity, IMO.

[Amethyst Rose]

But what if you are a true duoist? I don't think it's being disrespectful at all if you simply don't *believe* that there are multiple gods and goddesses.
For example... I believe in The One...the energy of the universe, if you will, that has male and female aspects which we call gods and goddesses. To me, the different gods are simply different aspects of the One. I simply don't believe that there are hundreds of individual divine beings walking around somewhere. So how is that disrespectful? I simply have different beliefs from you.

[Athena-Nadine]

I don't think it's disrespectful, because I think you do learn something important about me by knowing I'm a woman and acknowledging my commonality with other women, as long as you don't stop there. It's disrespectful to stop there, to just lump Kali, the Morrigan, and Hecate together as "dark goddess" without acknowledging their potent individuality. But to include a knowledge of their commonality and then respectfully acknowledge the individual would be a very respectful way for a duotheist to work with an individual deity, IMO.
I understand what you're saying, and I agree. However, I never liked the, "Nallia/woman/human" analogy used to explain the "All gods are one god and all goddesses are one goddess" concept. There is a big difference between saying, "DebLipp and Nallia share a commonality by being women," and, "All women are One." We are not one. We are not facets, and we are not archetypes. We are individual. We are not all just some conglomeration of names and symbols who can be used interchangeably. We are all women, but we are not all just another name for some Woman.

While the goddesses could all be said to belong to the group that is called goddess, They are as individual as you or I am, and in many cases, their immortality is the only commonality They share.

Gods, I hope that made sense. My head is buzzing a bit right now from too much caffeine. :lol:

[Athena-Nadine]

But what if you are a true duoist? I don't think it's being disrespectful at all if you simply don't *believe* that there are multiple gods and goddesses.
For example... I believe in The One...the energy of the universe, if you will, that has male and female aspects which we call gods and goddesses. To me, the different gods are simply different aspects of the One. I simply don't believe that there are hundreds of individual divine beings walking around somewhere. So how is that disrespectful? I simply have different beliefs from you.She wasn't saying that it's disrespectful for you to believe that.

All right. I'm going to try to explain this, but I don't know how well I'm doing today. :)

The disrespect comes about when people proclaim to all and sundry, "All the gods are One," or, "All the gods are symbols," or, "All the gods are man-made creations anyway." While there are many Pagans who will say, "What's the difference? That's what they believe," it is the exact same thing as an Abrahamic saying, "Your gods are false," or, "You are being mislead," etc. I could care less if they think my gods are false. Doing so is part of their religion. However, I don't believe my gods are real and separate. I know They are. It is disrespectful--to me and to the gods Themselves--for anyone to tell me differently, whether they believe it or not.

[fay]

ok reading this thread got me quite confused.
i believe in one deity of which the goddess and god are the male and female aspects. i then believe that the other gods and goddesses are aspects of these respectively. (not entirely sure if ive got across what i mean)
but this seems to me to be what you are describing as disrespectful, does that make my beliefs disrespectful?:huh:
blessed be

[Valentinius]

[QUOTE=Mòrag Elasaid MacDhòmhnaill]Velentinius, you may want to be a little more careful about how you express certain opinions you hold. Everyone does not necessarily share your opinon, so when you express your opinoins as facts, which is what you appear to have done above, it completely ignores/denies the very different beliefs of others. My gods are not just a way "of expressing a symbol or principle." They are very real and individual beings, no less real to me than my husband or my son. QUOTE]

Sorry about that I didn't know saying that god was what you made of it was disrespectfull. sorry I guess I'll be out of here then.

[Athena-Nadine]

ok reading this thread got me quite confused.
i believe in one deity of which the goddess and god are the male and female aspects. i then believe that the other gods and goddesses are aspects of these respectively. (not entirely sure if ive got across what i mean)
but this seems to me to be what you are describing as disrespectful, does that make my beliefs disrespectful?:huh:
blessed be
A person's beliefs are not disrespectful. Their behavior can be. You seem to have missed what I said:

The disrespect comes about when people proclaim to all and sundry, "All the gods are One," or, "All the gods are symbols," or, "All the gods are man-made creations anyway." While there are many Pagans who will say, "What's the difference? That's what they believe," it is the exact same thing as an Abrahamic saying, "Your gods are false," or, "You are being mislead," etc. I could care less if they think my gods are false. Doing so is part of their religion. However, I don't believe my gods are real and separate. I know They are. It is disrespectful--to me and to the gods Themselves--for anyone to tell me differently, whether they believe it or not.

[Ben Trismegistus]

It was said (in chat) that the polytheistic view is more respectful then the duotheistic view but the duotheistic makes more sense.
Never believe anything you read in chat. ;)

[Athena-Nadine]

Never believe anything you read in chat. ;)
There is that. :lol: The initial statement made no sense to me. Who was s/he saying polytheism is more respectful to? Other Pagans? The Recons? The gods? *...shakes head...* Personally, I think polytheism is more respectful to the gods, but that's only because I am one. ;) Also, who is duotheism suppose to make more sense to? You? Me? Everyone? *...shrugs...* Obviously, it makes no sense to me or I would be one.

The whole statement cancels itself out by virtue of the diversity of the very people it's referring to.

[DebLipp]

I understand what you're saying, and I agree. However, I never liked the, "Nallia/woman/human" analogy used to explain the "All gods are one god and all goddesses are one goddess" concept. There is a big difference between saying, "DebLipp and Nallia share a commonality by being women," and, "All women are One." We are not one. We are not facets, and we are not archetypes. We are individual. We are not all just some conglomeration of names and symbols who can be used interchangeably. We are all women, but we are not all just another name for some Woman.

While the goddesses could all be said to belong to the group that is called goddess, They are as individual as you or I am, and in many cases, their immortality is the only commonality They share.

Gods, I hope that made sense. My head is buzzing a bit right now from too much caffeine. :lol:

This gets into some heady theological and mystical stuff.

You say "but we are not all just another name for some Woman." (emphasis mine).

I think the "just" is the key to the respect/disrespect issue. To demean the individual by noting her connection to a larger force of energy is wrong (IMO), but to exalt the individual by celebrating her connection to a larger force is totally acceptable.

We are going to quickly bog down because of definitions of words like "just," "archetype," "One," and "facet." I'd contend that we (you, Nallia, and I) are one at some level. That the commonality constitutes an energetic connection; that connection is poorly understood and defined, but real. That connection doesn't diminish our individuality.

The connection is so poorly understood that we tend to treat it as all or nothing; as either we are "just" individuals (the common path with humans) or "just" One (the common path with Gods). My embrace of duotheism is a celebration of energies that run through all of us; humans, Gods, life, the universe. My embrace of polytheism is a celebration of uniqueness and individuality and complexity. And I don't want to stop celebrating! More parties! More parties! :fpartyhat

I believe that there are broad polar energies—Goddess and God—that embrace all of us, individual humans, individual deities, and large and small forces of nature and reality. I believe that those polar energies connect all of us, and that ultimately all life is One; Nallia, Deborah, Kali Ma, Hecate, Coyote, and my cat. I also believe that each unique individual is worthy of celebrating, of distinction, of respect, and of treatment as an individual. And as a daughter of Kali, I also believe that you don't go p!ssing Certain People off by treating them as less than they are.

Man, I hope THAT makes sense.

[Athena-Nadine]

This gets into some heady theological and mystical stuff.

You say "but we are not all just another name for some Woman." (emphasis mine).

I think the "just" is the key to the respect/disrespect issue. To demean the individual by noting her connection to a larger force of energy is wrong (IMO), but to exalt the individual by celebrating her connection to a larger force is totally acceptable.

We are going to quickly bog down because of definitions of words like "just," "archetype," "One," and "facet." I'd contend that we (you, Nallia, and I) are one at some level. That the commonality constitutes an energetic connection; that connection is poorly understood and defined, but real. That connection doesn't diminish our individuality.

The connection is so poorly understood that we tend to treat it as all or nothing; as either we are "just" individuals (the common path with humans) or "just" One (the common path with Gods). My embrace of duotheism is a celebration of energies that run through all of us; humans, Gods, life, the universe. My embrace of polytheism is a celebration of uniqueness and individuality and complexity. And I don't want to stop celebrating! More parties! More parties! :fpartyhat

I believe that there are broad polar energies—Goddess and God—that embrace all of us, individual humans, individual deities, and large and small forces of nature and reality. I believe that those polar energies connect all of us, and that ultimately all life is One; Nallia, Deborah, Kali Ma, Hecate, Coyote, and my cat. I also believe that each unique individual is worthy of celebrating, of distinction, of respect, and of treatment as an individual. And as a daughter of Kali, I also believe that you don't go p!ssing Certain People off by treating them as less than they are.

Man, I hope THAT makes sense.*...laughs...* It made perfect sense. Actually, I think you and I are saying the exact same thing. :bouncysmi

There is a Hellenic concept of The One (which I am sure you very well know). It is, however, different than the concept of The One that many Pagans follow today. For Hellenes, the One is the primoridal Chaos from which everything was born. It is the Divine energy of the universe and everything in it. It is the energy of creation, so to speak. Everything springs from this pool of energy, which is also a void, and is of it. It does not, however, negate the individuality of each and every god, mortal and thing in the universe.

I think the confustion stems when people assume that because something must be of and a part of that Divine Energy, it must not also be separate.

Whew! Here's a conversation I haven't had in a while!

[fay]

A person's beliefs are not disrespectful. Their behavior can be. You seem to have missed what I said:

sorry nallia. i wasnt being picky, i genuinely was confused. i get it now, thanks :)
as has been said so many times, the problem with the internet is that it doesnt allow for tone of voice, so sarcasm and genuine perplexity can be hard to distinguish between.
thanks again
blessed be

[Mòrag Elasaid Ní Dhòmhnaill]

You beat me to it this time! :lol: I swear, I'm starting to feel like we're becoming a tag team. ;)

Well if one of us doesn't get to it, the other surely will. Guess we don't have to worry about either of us going on vacation and someone missing out on our little comments. :T

[Athena-Nadine]

sorry nallia. i wasnt being picky, i genuinely was confused. i get it now, thanks :)
as has been said so many times, the problem with the internet is that it doesnt allow for tone of voice, so sarcasm and genuine perplexity can be hard to distinguish between.
thanks again
blessed be
No worries; I figured you may have missed it so I repeated it. :) I know all too well how easy it is to get confused online at times.

[ShinningStar_13]

i voted "other"...
i think that every form of belief wether its polytheistic, duotheistic or even monotheistic can be equally respectful - but it depends on the person and on the worshippers of this path.

I must agree entirely.

[Aquarian_Moon]

Well, I may have voted for polytheism (before viewing the polling results), but this is only because of my own personal view that male and female humans are the very same in essence, and I would feel out of touch to try and connect with just the God and Goddess. But I replied to the poll on a purely personal level, and it would obviously be different for someone else. In other words, my vote has little implication short of myself.

I also think that each individual God/Goddess shares attribtues with both the one God and Goddess. If I'm making no sense, please tell me, cuz I'm pretty new to this religion.

[Dorchadas Síofra]

That was also said in the chat. I think what he meant by it was that in a duotheistic sense all the Gods are part of the God and all the Goddesses are part of the Goddess. This apparently makes more sense...I can feel in my mind a little bit that it might make more sense...but I can't put into words why right now. It's almost 6am and I need sleep and time to think on this.

I believe that as well, that all Gods are different aspects of one God and all Goddesses aspects of one Goddess. But I also think anythng can be considered respectful depending on the person. but what is it respectful towards? other people? gods?

[AvalonsBlueRose]

Well, for the first time in my seven years of Paganism, I've got a Deity letting me know She's there and thinks of me as Hers. I've always been a Duotheist...and I still believe that all Goddesses are facets of the one Great Goddess and all Gods are faces of the Great God. This is the way that makes sense to me, and generally how I work my rituals/spells.

But in a dream last night I swore on the name of Jesus to a very religious person I used to have in my life, since to me he's a valid face of the God, and my Goddess was NOT happy with me! I'm not sure if this was just a dream or not, to be honest, but it does make me think that maybe each facet of the God and Goddess have their own personality, ideas, expectations, etc.?

[Kestrel Firesong]

Personally I believe that everyone's relationship with unique unto themselves. Deity expresses itself to a person in the best way a person can understand. So the question is respect towards whom? The Deity? Yourself? Others' views?

[Little Billy]

It was said (in chat) that the polytheistic view is more respectful then the duotheistic view but the duotheistic makes more sense.

This topic came up in chat and I really don't understand what was meant and I was told to ask the Druids, Heathens, and Reconstructionlist Witches why this why...which I also don't understand! Help!

So, do you feel that the polytheistic view is more respectful then the duotheistic view?


Neither. No matter how many Gods you worship, some are going to be left out.

And we all know what THAT means...

[Vigdisdotter]

None of the above, I vote for Henotheism :)

ETA: WHY did that show up as a "new post" thread? o.O

[Sethserpenthus]

I don't know... I have a hard time really expressing whether or not I find duotheism respectable simply because I'm having a hard time defining "respectable" or, more importantly, what type of duotheism we're talking about here. Often what I see duotheism expressed as sort of... I don't want to say it bothers me, but it doesn't make that much sense to me, either. Of course, I also hold that someone else's mileage may vary and that it doesn't really matter what I think, so whatever.

[David19]

None of the above, I vote for Henotheism :)

ETA: WHY did that show up as a "new post" thread? o.O

I think probably 'cause someone voted in the poll, and that makes it show up as a "new reply", even though no one posted.

[Vigdisdotter]

For the record, soft polytheism in general makes me twitchy, but that's why I'm a hard polytheist ~_^

[Vigdisdotter]

I think probably 'cause someone voted in the poll, and that makes it show up as a "new reply", even though no one posted.

Ahhh! that would make sense :)

[The Amityville Ghost]

The only kind of duotheism I don't like is the "Good versus Evil" kind, as in "God versus the Devil" or vice versa. Duotheisms which propagate an "Us versus Them" mentality are dangerous, IMO.

Aside from that, I don't really see what the issue is...Duotheism and polytheism are neither respectful nor disrespectful in and of themselves...It's the people practicing them that are one or the other.

[Halstrom]

I don't give a hoot what or how you practice much less how you believe in deity. The only that matters in that you believe in something.

[Vigdisdotter]

I don't give a hoot what or how you practice much less how you believe in deity. The only that matters in that you believe in something.

Why is that the only thing?

After all a great many people have killed in the name of their god.

[Toby Stimpson]

Hmmm... to be honest I'm really unsure as to what the original poster meant when she says Duotheism... and how it's more respectful.

Duotheism, according to Wikipedia, is Dualism... so my one question is, how is that any more respectful than Polytheism and to what is this respect towards?

I think the premise of the question is a little flawed to be honest as respect is ambiguous to begin with. It's also showing a value statement, because Polytheism as a philosophic idea is natural to polytheistic thought...so that would be more respectful to Polytheistic religions. At the same time though... it kind of annoys me how words are used to somehow bring together religious ideals or thought into general groupsing. I don't think that monotheists really care what polytheists think about them... or vice versa. I don't think that soft polytheism cares much about the thoughts of 'hard polytheists'. I think often words or labels of religious thought are misused or used to generalize and group traditions that may not have that much in common together. Now THATS what I find generally disrespectful.

[Libris]

Oops! I posted neither is respectful because I misread it as -neither one is more respectful-

To me, it's just a matter of personal interpretation. I don't see Christianity as being more respectful than Judaism, so why would I think that one brand of pagan worship is more pleasing to the Gods than another. I think the Gods make their wishes known to the individual and it's up to that person to listen.

[Halstrom]

Why is that the only thing? After all a great many people have killed in the name of their god.

I was talking within the context of the question. The OP asked whether a polytheistic view or a duotheistic view was more respectful. I'll give you the actions of the people who killed in the name of their god weren't respectful, however that is not the question.

[Vigdisdotter]

I was talking within the context of the question. The OP asked whether a polytheistic view or a duotheistic view was more respectful. I'll give you the actions of the people who killed in the name of their god weren't respectful, however that is not the question.

I was thinking within the context of the question as well, I just used that example to get the readers attention.

Respect covers a lot of ground. And if for example you were called by a duotheistic god/dess that required themselves to be treated as such but keep practising as poly, I could see that as being disrespectful

[Halstrom]

And if for example you were called by a duotheistic god/dess that required themselves to be treated as such but keep practising as poly, I could see that as being disrespectful


Besides the Lord and Lady of Wicca, what are some other duotheistic deities?

[Ben Gruagach]

Besides the Lord and Lady of Wicca, what are some other duotheistic deities?

Hinduism has a long history of deities who are considered to be parts or facets of a larger supreme being. If you look up "Smartism" (it's a Hindu sect) they teach that all Gods and Goddesses are really just manifestations of a single supreme being. Brahman is another popular Hindu god who is often described as the single ultimate deity, who manifests to mortals through an infinite variety of apparently distinct gods and goddesses.

And with regard to the duo part of the question, in Hindu religions it's very common to see things "simplified" into a male-female pair. The male is symbolised in the lingam, and the female in the yoni.

There are likely others but the Hindu ones were the first to pop in my mind when I saw your question.

[The Amityville Ghost]

Besides the Lord and Lady of Wicca, what are some other duotheistic deities?

Probably the two most famous deities of a duotheistic paradigm I can think of are Ahura Mazda and Ahriman. They are rivaled in this only by their close cousins, Yahweh and Satan, though these are not quite duotheistic since Satan is supposed to be just a bit weaker than Yahweh.

[darkchild]

I'm so glad that someone bumped this thread.

I have been, um, a tad confused about the whole concept of Poly vs duotheism.

I didn't vote in the poll because of that, but I have gotten some great points to ponder from you all.

I have always thought that respect was perceived by the (any) diety as worship, but now I don't know, there is so much more to it than that. I'm such a noob...

[childofbast]

I said that they are equally respectful, but as others have said, it depends on the person. Personally, duotheism makes little sense to me, but it does to others.

[Whitewolf]

i dont see where respect comes into it, respectful with reference to whom? the gods? i mean if you look at it there ARE lots of them.

they are just different ways of connecting with deity. I agree that they are just different ways of connecting with the deities.

[Rasari]

I'm not quite sure what the OP means.

But in regards to respect...

I'm assuming s/he is referring to the, usually accidental, offenses made toward Polytheists in regards to ditheism/duotheism by telling us our gods are nothing more than facets or aspects of the Lord and Lady or some universal energy. Or trying to force the deity of older pantheons to fit a more politically correct, trendy pagan image of love and light or MMC concepts...

In which case, its really very rude and disrespectful. As we hard polytheist know our deity as individual, free thinking entities. And attempting to manipulate deity in that nature is akin to pissing on someone's grave.

As for which is more respectful in manner of worship... It depends on WHO and HOW you're worshipping.