Reddit reviews God Against The Gods: The History of the War Between Monotheism and Polytheism

Another one I've been reading is God against the gods!, History of the war between Monotheism and Polytheism, damn interesting read.

Those are two different questions, and in my case do not go together. I'll make separate comments for these questions.

>Why do religious people attack other religious people

First of all, I want you to understand it hasn't always been this way. This violence is one of the many gifts of monotheism, the belief in a one true god.

Before this concept spread, most people believed in many gods. None of these many gods demanded exclusive worship, let alone the death or conversion of people who worshiped a different god.The concept would have made no sense. It's very likely that this and/or animism was the state of religion for the vast majority of our existence, with the concept of a jealous One True God being a johnny-come-lately innovation.

All of these ancient religions were fundamentally compatible with each other. People saw each other's gods as the same as their own (but under different names and faces), or as different, but just as worthy of worship. It was also considered pious and good manners to give honor, respect, and worship to the god of a place, if you went there. (Many gods were focused on specific cities, like Athena on Athens in Greece, Hathor (who the Greeks equated with Aphrodite) on Dendera in Egypt, Eshmun (who the Greeks considered to be Asklepios) on Sidon in Lebanon, etc.

(Book recommendation: "God Against the Gods: The History of the War Between Monotheism and Polytheism" by Jonathan Kirsch)

The exact opposite. It's the monotheists who go to war over Gods, because to them there can only be one. Polytheists didn't care, they just embraced them into their pantheon (of course they went to war for other reasons).