The game of the Gods

as recorded in Völuspá. Have you tafled lately?

The most fundamental difference between polytheism and monotheism, between tribalism and universalism, and between hierarchal values and globalism, is that of plurality vs. singularity. Is the universe many or one? Is it a unification of one vital force manifested in many ways, or many forces that make up an overall collective?
This is the fundamental divide that has lasted for centuries. It pervades every aspect of our society, and is at the core of all of our sociopolitical and cultural issues. Although people represent either side in various ways and on many different levels, the fundamental precept is the same.
I am a polytheist, and one who believes in the MANY, rather than the ONE. The problem I have with these mono/universal beliefs is that they are by their very nature dividers. They claim to believe in unity but bring division. We believe in division but manifest unity. How can such a paradox exist?
It can all be boiled down to one word: loyalty. Humans must have tangibility to maintain loyalty. You must have something that you can feel and touch and experience in order to have loyalty to it. On the local level this would be family, friends, and folk. Then would come loyalty to a clan, tribe, or nation. The Gods of our people are tangible, have likenesses, and are a family. But when you are loyal to everything, you are actually loyal to nothing. So believing that you are loyal to “humanity,” or “God” (as an abstract entity) or an idealism, takes away your ability to express real loyalty. These ideals are always full of contradictions, and the people who claim to want such unification typically desire to do so in blood. They say they want “peace,” but all they bring is war and death. They say they want “love,” but bring the most pure of hates. Abstracts are easy tools to manipulate people with, so loyalty dissolves in the name of nothingness.
This explains our current state of affairs. Why we constantly see one insane cause, idea, belief, or expression after another. When the people of a civilization lose their sense of loyalty, that civilization is doomed.