to me monotheistic is not an identity label. it is a description of a particular kind of cosmology (in the anthropological sense) that many self-identified christians reject. i should really clarify that i'm less talking about the rich, segmented, hierarchical cosmology of traditional catholicism, and i'm not trying to argue that angels are gods. the old testament also has a very rich but very different cosmology, and the devil in there doesn't end up being a particularly relevant figure.

this also means that i very much overstated in my initial comment. i wouldn't say most denominations anymore, although the attitude has spread.

it's the modern americanized evangelical theology i'm pointing at when i say these things. why? because they've gotten so horny for god that they refuse to accept what was once completely unquestionable - that god can be pretty nasty when he wants to be. poor job. the o.t. god never would have promised a utopia, and after constantine the newly institutionalized church had a lot of use for a pre-packaged belief system with a mean dude at the top. the devil can be blamed for the fall but he doesn't reappear as an active force beyond whatever other demons and evil spirits might be around until recently.

but now, he's made a pretty big comeback in many circles. for the people who are actually fighting off satan every day of their lives, who actually believed obama worshipped the devil, and who actually believe that if you have sex you're letting him take control over you, and who use phrases like "attack and dethrone god", have a cosmology that far more resembles a clash of good and evil deities on the same playing field than it does that of actual monotheistic religions. the degree to which this applies varies from person to person, and i know plenty of people for whom it doesn't. but it is more and more prevalent