First, before you get angry and dump this essay let me say that I think religion is very important to many people. But not to all people. I recently read a few chapters in a world religions text and noticed that the word god was always written with a capital "G" when used with no specific context or when talking about one of the Abramhamic religions, but when any other religion was discussed the word always had a lower case "g". The authors claim unbiased views of world religions but this very usage implies ascendancy of one god over others.
I have just finished reviewing the religious practices of about 15 or so various cultures and found with one exception that they are all male centered. Apparently god only talks to men. (The exception was Christian Science, founded by a woman to whom god talked,but still based on one of the male centered religions.)I find this very interesting since at least half the humans in the world are female. Now, before you go off on Isis or some other god of the ancient world realize that I am not claiming that there were no female gods. The pantheon of gods collectively has female gods. And I don't know all of them or their status, but I am willing to bet that few or none are the "top" god in what ever culture they are ruling at the moment.
This leads me to think that gods were thought up by men as a device to explain the unexplainable. Gods thought up by men. Gods thought up by men. Worth repeating when you think of the obverse. Gods thinking up men. If that is the case where did women come from? Well, it is obvious to me that if god or gods thought up men they also thought up women. Then would one would think that they have equal standing. But no, the gods favor men. Why? Because men are better? Wiser? Stronger? (Got me there, although I had a rib broken by a playful woman that could whip me in a fight any day) For the most part men and women have the same innate capacities and given equal opportunities can achieve equal results. I am not denying that there are probably some tasks that are more naturally suited to one over the other, but these are probably mostly trivial.
No, for me the evidence of most of the religions being male centered is convincing. I believe that men created gods for their own uses and the "monster" got out of the bag. With the evolution of priests (or priest-like stations like shaman for example) most men lost control of their destinies as well as women. I can find no, read that zero, convincing argument or evidence that there is anything ever remotely like a god in the universe, much less one that is male and cares about us.
That said let me return to the beginning: religion is a very good thing for many people. It is a constant source of strength and support. I don't suppose all the evil done in the name of religion is worth mentioning. (Doesn't the image above make you feel better than an angry hairy thunderer flinging lightning bolts. This is the Hindu god, Ram.)
Photo source:www.indianchild.com/hindu_god.htm
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