Posted: Apr 08, 2012 5:48 am
MacIver wrote:Oldskeptic wrote:You're putting a lot of fragile eggs in one basket. Life expectancy did not increase with the agricultural revolution, it went down. For men and women alike. Filthy cities are not conducive to healthy citizens.
All very good points, some of which I concede. I was simply trying to use my limited knowledge on the subject to explain why the male dominance within deities in Europe and the Fertile Crescent seems to coincide with the the rise of civilisation in these areas. There are some arguments I've heard that state as Middle Eastern polytheism was evolving into Abrahamic monotheism there was an active campaign (whether concious or subconscious) to decrease females position within society and religions - Eve being the ultimate cause of Original Sin is probably the most outright example of this. It could be a coincidence, or it could be through other unrelated factors. But I think there's something in my theory. Civilisation is male dominated, it always has been. Pre-civilisation societies were more egalitarian in nature if for no other reason than they were smaller.
Or maybe the men had little to do but sit around thinking up rationalisations why they didn't have to work so hard. Hence religion...