A number of years ago, I heard an anthropologist claim that people in primary cultures or hunter/gatherer societies probably worked only about twenty hours a week. Then the other night I watched an episode of the History Channel’s Mankind: The Story Of All Of Us and the claim was made that the transition to an agrarian way of life had a negative impact on our general health and standard of living. A less varied diet made us shorter, and living so close to domestic livestock exposed us to disease, and since we adopted permanent homes that needed to be defended, we became more prone to war and violence.
All of this made me wonder if civilization is actually a good thing. Maybe we took a wrong turn. It also made me think that perhaps the Garden of Eden myth comes from our collective memory of our hunter/gatherer past. Maybe we instinctively desire to live closer to nature as we once did for thousands of years.
I’ve read that primary cultures tend to emphasize the feminine. Rather than male angry, violent sky gods, they worship nurturing earth goddesses. Imagine the dramatic difference in mentality. Rather than existing in a world where you have to fight to survive, you live in a world of abundance, a world that embraces you and provides for you, and all you have to do is roll yourself out of bed in the morning and go find something to eat.
I suspect that Christianity was an attempt to reclaim some of that feminine energy. Jesus was a pacifist, not a warrior, and he urged his followers to stop worrying about their possessions and about survival and simply live.
In any event, I don’t think the message really sank in with most Christians. Most of Christian history is full of war, violence and lust for political power and material possessions. And the whole ugly mess has been hidden behind the facade of neighborly love.
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