Ashok Khosla, SK Sharma B-32, Qutab Inst. People First, September 2000 Dharma is an ancient philosophical concept of India. Dharma thus truly symbolises universal values of humanism and can form the basis of global ethics. Hinduism, Bahai and such other faiths represent henotheism, that is oneness of various manifestations of the only super-consciousness.
Many tribal religions are polytheistic in that they have belief in many gods.
Religions such as Christianity and Islam are monotheistic in that they assert that there is only one god and specified prophets. Social reformers such as Christ and Mohammed themselves never claimed that they were god or the only representatives of god. Self-seeking priesthood in most religions, with intent to establish its hegemony, distorted the values preached by all faiths, and divided society. Hindu priesthood converted castes based on profession to birth, made a section of society untouchable, and introduced exploitative customs. Christian priesthood claims superiority and entices the poor of other faiths to conversion.