Reply #5: There is also

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the passage to a higher level of abstraction; from anthropomorphic deities to a symbolic, unique, one. In that sense, in that developmental sense, monotheism marked a progress in the dominant thinking. Just like more advanced languages use more abstract words (i.e. "tree" and not "the tall vegetal which stands by the old man's house"). The trick is that to keep it "sellable" you have to maintain the anthropomorphic aspect, or else uneducated peasants who bust their asses in the fields until they reach 30 and die from exhaustion will not buy it. The smooth evolution from anthropomorphic myth to the quantic theory is therefore thwarted. And the reign of stupidity begins. Apparently with no limits in sight.