SunkenCiv,
The general replies to such an interesting article must be disappointing, but you seem to plow ahead anyway
I generally skip reading a lot of replies, not least because GGG topics (by and large) generate most of my pings page replies, and they get lost quickly, I wind up having to check previous pages, and don’t always do so. But yeah, I take your point. :’)
I read the comments at the article continuation. Some were intelligent. Once person complained about authoritarian type religion and said it was only a few thousand years old. I am currently reading a book written in 1988, called The Chalice & The Blade: Our History, Our Future, by Riane Eisler. I have only read a little bit and the chapter descriptions, but it seems to describe the difference between Partnership culture and Dominator culture. It goes back to Paleolithic and Neolitic culture which seemed to be oriented toward “The Goddess” and then proceeds to describe the warlike nomadic cultures which introduced “The Gods” and especially through the Abrahamic religions subjugated women almost totally. As I say, I have only begun to read it but it seems to cover a lot of interesting territory, some of which I was not aware of, like the Kurgan invasions of central Europe from the Russian steppes around 4300/4200 BC and 3000/2800 BC. This was apparently a major period of imposition of the God religion. I remember seeing an article many years ago in National Geographic describing the excavation of a 50 foot high village mound in the Danube area. The pottery from 5 or 6,000 BC was light and bright and whimsical. Later pottery from around 3000 BC was very well formed, but dull and drab in color. At the time, I remember thinking, “Gee, what disaster happened here?” Now seeing this book I imagine slaving women (I am guessing most pottery was produced by women) producing this later pottery with no joy or imagination present.