Social Complexity, Human Nature, and Religion

There are times when I sit back and look at civilization through time. Occasionally, I become fixated on certain variables. Take, for example, religion. There was a time when religion, as we know it, didn't exist. Instead, "religion" wasn't that at all, it was a way of life - a philosophical way of being. One wasn't separate from nature - you were a part of it - part of the Earth and her cycles. This spiritual way of life wasn't a tool that others used for control; it was a personal path to follow.

As civilizations "advanced" and moved away from a hunter-gather subsistence lifestyle and began to embrace agriculture, and later, industry and corporations, the spiritual philosophical way of being - on a personal level disappeared and was replaced by group worship. With this step, naturally, a leader of these activities would be needed - a priest. It doesn't take one long to realize that over time, the spiritual way of living one's life - a beautiful practice held in harmony with all living things - transforms into a corrupted way of population control. It doesn't take a college professor to see that people have been stoned, burned, drowned, stretched, and flayed for not agreeing with religious authorities. If one isn't able to question religious authority, then religion is used for subjugation of the masses - so that the population lives and does the authorities bidding. How else were large cathedrals, pyramid-shaped tombs, and empires built?

When one is in total control of others, that governing official or officials tend to abuse their power in the form of deceit, corruption, and abuse of the general population. Tithing, paying taxes to the lord or king, being placed in jail - or killed - for simply disagreeing, or being treated less "royally" than those with power - examples of authoritarian abuse dot the historical landscape from Inquisitions to hangings. Come now, why don't members of the American governing body receive social security like their constituents? Why do they receive their regular pay plus cost of living advances once they're out of office? What about the taxes, or lack thereof, that they pay? All the while, American constituents are barely able to make ends meet or even to afford health care. I won't even mention, that a decent education isn't available to poverty-stricken areas. To govern, whether it be under religious or political pretense, is power, and with power comes corruption and the feeling that one is "above" it all, untouchable, and owed something for their services.

So, what about the church? Organized religion, like the American governmental machine on Capital Hill, is run by ordinary human beings who have ordinary human drives. Being human, these leaders are not perfect, but must make decisions on a regular basis. Many of these decisions affect them personally, and like any living creature, hurting oneself is not high on the priority list; therefore, most are corruptible. Whether they are demanding money for their coffers, stating that homosexuality is wrong, birth control is a sin, or molesting children, they are demanding the blind acquiescence of the masses. They are "vessels" or representatives of or for their deities. These mortal, humans often have the power to condemn and to forgive. How many Hail Mary's will it be today?

This corruption and condemnation of the personal path to spiritual fulfillment feeds into basic human nature. Like other animals that reside in groups - no matter the size - a leader emerges and others follow. Nothing has ever been truly egalitarian for humans or other primates simply because it isn't in our nature. It is the degree of cooperation that is the key. A cooperation of roles where each person functions as part of the whole and where no job, whether leader or follower, is seen or viewed as being less important than any other job. All segments of society are viewed as vital for the overall survival of the group. Bees and ants live harmoniously with each other each and every day. Without workers, drones, queens, and attendants - there is no colony. Each job is as important as any other; they are equal.

There will always be leaders and there will always be followers. It is the degree of accountability and overall control of the population for continued leadership that changes with increased social complexity. In less "complex" societies, bad leaders - leaders who abuse their power - are removed - at times by brutal force when the masses band together. In other words, the sheep stop following blindly - instead they band together and become wolves.