Patriarchal Societies and Religion: The Devolution of Peaceful Communities

Over the course of history, every decade since the inception of modern society is punctuated by war, violence and oppression imposed by oppressors and colonizers of large and powerful countries onto smaller, less powerful ones. Regardless of which area of the world is under examination, this power dichotomy can be found somewhere on virtually every continent. Often at the core of these violent struggles is a war centered around religion and religious differences, and a battle for social control and power.

It was Karl Marx and later Friedrich Engels who defined the transition from matriarchal societies to hierarchical, patriarchal social organizations centered around religious pedagogy as the single worst pivotal moment in human history. Before this time there were no mass scale wars, violence, class or classism, poverty, or oppression in its various forms. Matriarchal societies that existed before the explosion of patriarchal religion were in contrast most often naturally peaceful, deeply connected by different forms of spirituality, and circular in nature instead of imposed hierarchies. Their social structures resembled that of a web of interconnectedness, which included nature and other living beings, more so than a linear pattern of social power. Modern religion-based societies introduced the concepts of hierarchy within humanity, claiming that different men held a different level of importance, and thus value, in the worship of a singular male God, and that all other civilians and creatures were inferior to this religious structure. This world view popularized the concept of patriarchy and a classist social structure, in which a select few wealthy, predominantly male elites could hoard power and resources while the rest struggled for survival. Most modern societies still live within the confines of this kind of social organization and ideology to this very day.

Organized patriarchal religion is adamant in people believing that its primary goal is to promote and spread peace, yet true peace is undoubtedly impossible when violent classism, poverty, racial oppression and warfare can be found in virtually any area of the world, much of it centered around divisive religious pedagogy. Over the course of history, there have been countless wars fought in the name of religion, and millions of lives lost simply at the expense of another’s religious beliefs. The existence of hierarchal and patriarchal rule imposed by the wealthy classes in positions of power operates to maintain social control of the less powerful—and so often uses religion to not only justify the actions but also to turn the oppressed against one another as a means to distract from the true source of oppression. 

Religion itself and participating in religious traditions and beliefs is not solely responsible for our social problems, for peaceful matriarchal societies also participated in their own form of religious beliefs—centered around multiple goddess worship and spirituality that was more holistically aligned with the planet. However, when coupled with a patriarchal approach of solely worshipping a singular male character and rigidly following a hierarchy of power, the influence of religion morphs into something problematic. It becomes an easy excuse for a wide range of oppressive tactics and it conveniently dismisses one’s capacity to question their beliefs when it is centered around a singular, all-knowing higher power. Matriarchal societies in contrast worshipped a wide range of female goddesses and male deities as well as the natural world, living much more in harmony with the planet than modern society could deign to do, and demonstrating that religion itself does not have to be inextricably tied to a patriarchal social system. Ample archeological, ethnographic and anthropological research all demonstrate that this is the case, as Neolithic goddesses were worshipped communally and priestesses lived together with the rest of the society in circular buildings with no significant differences in the housing structures, access to resources, stratification or geographic distance from person to person. 

Taking cues from matriarchal societies is an important and necessary way to envision a future that is less hierarchal in its social structures and more driven towards communal harmony. For the survival of both humanity and the planet long-term, violent and oppressive tactics fueled by patriarchal, religious social structures must come to an end. Shifting the religious focus away from a singular, all-powerful and all-knowing male God to a more nature-based approach that values and centers Mother Nature would encourage a healthier relationship between humanity and the natural world—so desperately needed as we brace the brink of potentially irreversible climate catastrophe. For as much respect, attention and worship a singular male God garners in the realm of modern Anglo-Saxon religious pedagogy (which also explicitly or implicitly embraces white supremacy through its hierarchal social structures), mainstream religious institutions largely fail at teaching their believers the true meaning of peace and global harmony. The omnipresence of religion and its direct influence on advancing various forms of violence and social hierarchy are not questioned enough, nor are matriarchal societies valued enough for what they are able to teach us. In order for humanity to persist long-term on this planet, a future free of the confines of violently imposed social hierarchies and oppression are crucial, and the wisdom that the remains of matriarchal communities offer hold the answers on how to get there.

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