Why Animism and Polytheism are Radical Religions in Capitalist Societies

A good deal of animism and polytheism’s power, as it is expressed in outward form, is that it directly challenges the overculture’s directions to consume and produce for their own sake.  Slavoj Žižek notes that products like Coke produce their own perpetual desire.  In “The Pervert’s Guide to Ideology”, he notes that Coke self-perpetuates by two ways, in that it makes one’s duty to consume and enjoy Coke, and that the consumption of it leads to the thirst that leads a person to want to consume it more.  After all, it is a drink, but by its nature it produces further thirst rather than satiating it.

The paradox of Coke is that you are thirsty, you drink it.  But, as everyone knows, the more you drink it, the more thirsty you get.

Polytheism demands us to understand that while pleasure, the satiation of thirst, and enjoyment may be side-benefits of…