--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I regard monotheism as the greatest…" description: "\"I regard monotheism as the greatest disaster ever to befall the human race. I see no good in Judaism, Christianity, or Islam - good people, yes, but an..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8e9/gore-vidal-466_atheism_i-regard-monotheism-as-the-greatest-disa_1426621.jpg" --- # I regard monotheism as the greatest disaster ever to… ![“I regard monotheism as the greatest disaster ever to befall the human race. I see no good in Judaism, Christianity, or Islam - good people, yes, but any religion based on a single, well, frenzied and virulent god, is not as useful to the human race as, say, Confucianism, which is not a religion…” quote by Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8e9/gore-vidal-466_atheism_i-regard-monotheism-as-the-greatest-disa_1426621.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8e9/gore-vidal-466_atheism_i-regard-monotheism-as-the-greatest-disa_1426621.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8e9/gore-vidal-466_atheism_i-regard-monotheism-as-the-greatest-disa_1426621.jpg) > “I regard monotheism as the greatest disaster ever to befall the human race. I see no good in Judaism, Christianity, or Islam - good people, yes, but any religion based on a single, well, frenzied and virulent god, is not as useful to the human race as, say, Confucianism, which is not a religion but an ethical and educational system.” [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The author argues that monotheistic religions are harmful compared to non‑theistic ethical systems like Confucianism. **In simple terms:** Monotheism is seen as harmful; Confucianism is valued. Key Takeaway Consider ethical frameworks beyond deity worship. Themes religion ethics culture conflict Mood critical analytical Type philosophical controversial When to use this quote - interfaith dialogue - education reform - policy making - personal belief - community building Key Concepts theism humanism secularism Questions to Reflect On - How can societies balance religious traditions with secular ethics? - What benefits do monotheistic religions offer? A Different Perspective Monotheistic faiths also provide community and moral guidance for many. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Atheism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/atheism/) [Christianity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/christianity/) [Confucianism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/confucianism/) [Disaster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/disaster/) [Educational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/educational/) [Educational system](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/educational-system/) [Good people](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/good-people/) [Human race](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-race/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Islam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/islam/) [Judaism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/judaism/) [Monotheism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/monotheism/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Race](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/race/) [Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/) ## Related quotes > [I regard monotheism as the greatest disaster ever to befall the human race. I see no good in Judaism, Christianity, or Islam - good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/i-regard-monotheism-as-the-greatest-disaster-ever-to-befall-the-human/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [I think it's been hard for people to understand how Islam can be a good religion, and yet the Islamists are evil. Those of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-j-o-rourke/i-think-it-s-been-hard-for-people-to-understand-how-islam-can-be-a/) [P. J. O'Rourke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-j-o-rourke/) > [“was a watershed event, establishing a utilitarian morality that runs through Islamic theology: anything that benefits Muslims and Islam is good, and anything that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-spencer/was-a-watershed-event-establishing-a-utilitarian-morality-that-runs/) [Robert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-spencer/) > [while religion is ethical, it by no means follows that ethics is religion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georgia-harkness/while-religion-is-ethical-it-by-no-means-follows-that-ethics-is/) [Georgia Harkness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georgia-harkness/) > [You can't deny that religion has done some good. It organizes lots of anti-poverty programs and soup kitchens and missionary work. But I would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-maher/you-can-t-deny-that-religion-has-done-some-good-it-organizes-lots-of/) [Bill Maher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-maher/) > [(Because) the notion of absolute truth is difficult to sustain outside the context of religion, ethical conduct is not something we engage in because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dalai-lama/because-the-notion-of-absolute-truth-is-difficult-to-sustain-outside/) [Dalai Lama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dalai-lama/) > [At least when the Emperor Justinian, a sky-god man, decided to outlaw sodomy, he had to come up with a good practical reason, which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/at-least-when-the-emperor-justinian-a-sky-god-man-decided-to-outlaw/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [Monotheism is easily the greatest disaster to befall the human race.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/monotheism-is-easily-the-greatest-disaster-to-befall-the-human-race/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [Only a country that is based upon an extremely primitive religion, which is Christianity, I am a devoted enemy of monotheism in all of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/only-a-country-that-is-based-upon-an-extremely-primitive-religion/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [Therefore the superior man is watchful over himself, when he is alone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/confucius/therefore-the-superior-man-is-watchful-over-himself-when-he-is-alone/) [Confucius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/confucius/) > [Without an acquaintance with the rules of propriety, it is impossible for the character to be established](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/confucius/without-an-acquaintance-with-the-rules-of-propriety-it-is-impossible/) [Confucius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/confucius/) > [When you meet someone better than yourself, turn your thoughts to becoming his equal. When you meet someone not as good as you are,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/confucius/when-you-meet-someone-better-than-yourself-turn-your-thoughts-to/) [Confucius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/confucius/) > [“Psy will go down in history as the first real twenty-first-century entertainer: who else could combine Confucianism and farting?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/euny-hong/psy-will-go-down-in-history-as-the-first-real-twenty-first-century/) [Euny Hong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/euny-hong/) > [Confucianism strongly condemned the use of drugs like opium.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-trout/confucianism-strongly-condemned-the-use-of-drugs-like-opium/) [Robert Trout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-trout/) > [Life and human society are the chief concern of Confucianism and, through it, the chief concern of the Chinese people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hu-shih/life-and-human-society-are-the-chief-concern-of-confucianism-and/) [Hu Shih](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hu-shih/) ## More by Gore Vidal > [There is only one party in the United States, the Property Party...and it has two right wings: Republican and Democrat. Republicans are a bit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/there-is-only-one-party-in-the-united-states-the-property-party-and/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [Many people in the United States happen to believe that United States policy is wrong in Vietnam and the Vietcong are correct in wanting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/many-people-in-the-united-states-happen-to-believe-that-united-states/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [“It is curious how little interested we are in the sexual desires of those who do not attract us.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/it-is-curious-how-little-interested-we-are-in-the-sexual-desires-of/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [This separation was absolute in our original Republic. But the sky-godders do not give up easily. In the 1950s they actually got the phrase…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/this-separation-was-absolute-in-our-original-republic-but-the-sky/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [Style is knowing who you are, what you want to say, and not giving a damn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/style-is-knowing-who-you-are-what-you-want-to-say-and-not-giving-a/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [The oligarchs think that the people are both dangerous and stupid. Their point is moot. 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Words are used to disguise, not to illuminate, action: you liberate a city by destroying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/as-societies-grow-decadent-the-language-grows-decadent-too-words-are/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [Rome ... at its most decadent, had never thought of hiring an actor to go through the motions of being an emperor while the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/rome-at-its-most-decadent-had-never-thought-of-hiring-an-actor-to-go/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [History is nothing but gossip about the past, with the hope that it might be true.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/history-is-nothing-but-gossip-about-the-past-with-the-hope-that-it/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [The malady of civilized man is his knowledge of death. The good artist, like the wise man, addresses himself to life and invests with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/the-malady-of-civilized-man-is-his-knowledge-of-death-the-good-artist/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [Sex is a continuum. You go through different phases along life's way... and if you don't, you've been sort of cheated.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/sex-is-a-continuum-you-go-through-different-phases-along-life-s-way/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [All I want is that Americans still be able to read the alphabet in a hundred years. I am not very ambitious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/all-i-want-is-that-americans-still-be-able-to-read-the-alphabet-in-a/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [I do not admire 'the people,' as such. No one really does. Their folk wisdom is usually false, their instincts predatory. 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Atheism has never healed a disease; faith in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-hagee/let-me-tell-you-that-atheism-has-never-painted-a-masterpiece-atheism/) [John Hagee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-hagee/) > [Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/believing-with-you-that-religion-is-a-matter-which-lies-solely/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [The inner defenses are unconscious. They consist of a kind of magic aura which the mind builds around cherished belief. Arguments which penetrate into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/the-inner-defenses-are-unconscious-they-consist-of-a-kind-of-magic/) [Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) > [God speaks through me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-w-bush/god-speaks-through-me/) [George W. Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-w-bush/) > [A knowledge of the existence of something we cannot penetrate, of the manifestations of the profoundest reason and the most radiant beauty - it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/a-knowledge-of-the-existence-of-something-we-cannot-penetrate-of-the/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [You cannot ... transmute some incoherent mixture of words into sense merely by introducing the three-letter word "God" to be its grammatical subject.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antony-flew/you-cannot-transmute-some-incoherent-mixture-of-words-into-sense/) [Antony Flew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antony-flew/) > [Many humanists have argued that happiness involves a combination of hedonism and creative moral development; that an exuberant life fuses excellence and enjoyment, meaning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-kurtz/many-humanists-have-argued-that-happiness-involves-a-combination-of/) [Paul Kurtz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-kurtz/) > [If, with all the time at my disposal, with all the wealth of the resources of this vast universe, to do with as I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-green-ingersoll/if-with-all-the-time-at-my-disposal-with-all-the-wealth-of-the/) [Robert Green Ingersoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-green-ingersoll/) > [Do you think that was kind? 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