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Monotheism is Messianic Imperialism

Civilizations are not judged by their monuments or armies but by the principles they elevate as universal. By that measure, the story of humanity is the story of a battle between two paths: one rooted in reason, compassion, and pluralism, and the other rooted in irrationalism, exclusivism, and conquest. My essays are written in defense of the first path and as an unflinching critique of the second.

The dominant myth of our time is that Abrahamic monotheism—Judaism, Christianity, and Islam—gave the world morality, civilization, and rationality. This is repeated in classrooms, pulpits, and parliaments until it becomes unchallengeable dogma. Yet history tells a harsher truth. These faiths triumphed not because they were nobler but because they were more ruthless. They won by wielding pure, consistent irrationalism coupled with systematic violence and superior military force. They divided the world into insiders and outsiders—chosen and condemned, believer and infidel—and declared annihilation a form of virtue. Their triumph was not civilization’s ascent but civilization’s narrowing, a mutilation disguised as universality.

My central thesis is incendiary but inescapable: the Abrahamic religions are forms of messianic imperialism. They do not persuade; they conquer. They do not coexist; they annihilate. Their strength lies in their refusal to doubt, their sanctification of violence, their dualistic ethics that bless the faithful and condemn the rest. That formula explains their victories across continents—from the burning of the Serapeum in Alexandria to the sack of Nalanda in India, from the Crusades in Europe to the annihilation of the Aztecs and Incas in the Americas. It also explains their endless internecine wars—Catholic against Protestant, Sunni against Shi‘a, Jew against Christian. If they cannot tolerate themselves, how could they ever tolerate others?

Against this legacy stand the rival civilizations they destroyed—often nobler, more humane, and more rational. The Greeks pioneered philosophy and dialectic, debating without demanding extermination. The Indians cultivated centuries of intellectual rivalry between Hindus, Buddhists, and Jains without burning each other’s temples. The Chinese balanced Confucian ethics, Daoist mysticism, and Buddhist compassion in a pluralistic synthesis. The Persians built empires of tolerance. The Celts and Norse revered nature. None of these civilizations were flawless, but they understood that truth is many-sided and that dialogue is richer than dogma. Their nobility was their weakness: against armies of uncompromising irrationalism, they had no defense.

The essays that follow are written in a deliberately polemical style, because only polemic can pierce the myths that still dominate our culture. They are not neutral. They take sides—reason against revelation, compassion against conquest, pluralism against exclusivism. They defend Socrates against the mobs that condemned him, Buddha against the conquerors who burned his monasteries, Śaṅkara against the dogmatists who never debated but only destroyed. They insist that the true roots of civilization lie not in the thunder of Sinai or the battles of Mecca but in the questions of Athens, the meditations of India, and the harmonies of China.

This project is called Reason in Revolt for a reason. Reason, when chained to power, becomes the servant of dogma. Reason, when in revolt, becomes the liberator of humanity. The task before us is not antiquarian nostalgia but a living choice: whether to continue under the empire of Abrahamic irrationalism or to reclaim the nobler legacies that still whisper across time. Socrates, Buddha, Confucius, Śaṅkara—these are not relics but guides. Moses, Jesus, Muhammad—these are not saviors but conquerors. History has favored the latter, but the future depends on rediscovering the former.

I write with urgency because the old logic still governs our world. The same dualism that once justified burning libraries now justifies drone strikes. The same irrationalism that once silenced philosophers now fuels fundamentalisms of every stripe. The same theology of annihilation that toppled civilizations now stalks humanity with nuclear weapons. To expose this history is to issue a warning. To defend reason, compassion, and pluralism is to defend civilization itself.

Reason in Revolt is not just a title; it is a necessity. To revolt against irrationalism is to revolt for humanity. To unmask messianic imperialism is to reclaim the possibility of peace. These essays are my contribution to that revolt.