Noticing a lack of maternal qualities in some modern religions...?

Question

Just finished watching "The Mists of Avalon" (Earth Mother/ Sky Father) and "Waterworld" (Earth Mother/Poseidon Father).

I noticed that Judaism, Christianity and Islam (all paternal/monotheistic) have cut off the rejuvenating/nurturing/connecting aspects so obvious in some maternal religions.

I'm curious as to why we lost those qualities in religion.

I'm wondering if rising population densities placing increasing pressures on resources thus placing increasing pressures on those populations to sustain themselves might have led to a more paternal/warlike structure that eventually replaced the Earth Mother.

Comments? Useful information?

P.S. And no, I don't think the Virgin Mary counts. For one thing, she is not worshipped as a Goddess.

Answer 1

I think this is a good theory. You would enjoy Grace Jantzen's Becoming Divine. Jantzen challenged the preoccupations of the male, western philosophy, which she saw as driven by a concern with death --she constructed a philosophy of religion built on natality and birth. Her aim was to offer different ways of imagining life outside the patriarchal symbolic of western thinking.

Answer 2

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Answer 3

The entire population of the planet could fit in Texas. That being said, we have only now begun to stress the Earth's ability to provide resources. It has always been our unwillingness to steward those resources or move that has caused stress to our immediate environs.

As for a paternal aspect of 'modern' religions, it is because of our nature to covet and horde for ouselves that we have adopted a strong, warlike attitude in religion. When the 'others' desire our resources, we have an almighty father (clan head) to lead us to fend off the intruders on our land.

It is not dwindling resources, but proximity to foreigners, which tends to favor a paternal/protector, rather than a commune-style mother Earth style of religion.

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Answer 4

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Answer 5

Yep. That's what the whole Sacred Feminine thing is about. Most pagan cultures worshiped goddesses, but patriarchal judeochristian societies took over and wiped them out. The female aspect was demonized, as it posed a threat to the church.

Answer 6

Actually I think it just comes down to physical strength. Generally speaking a man is alot stronger than a woman (of course there are exceptions) so that being a given, men have an easier time of keeping women in line. In my experience, women of the right mindset are far wiser than the wisest of men I have read about.
Great Question.

Answer 7

I'm pretty sure that women were left out of religion, because men were the ones in power. When they made up all these stories of creation and such they HAD to include women for the birth part, but that's about it, they didn't want women to get it in thier heads that they had any purpose in life other than to have children.

Answer 8

I'm not very clear on your question...the Bible and Koran were written in patriarchal societies, so of course they're...patriarchal. They appear to be the biggest, most popular religions today because they were created by the people in power, who both in their means of promoting and within the scriptures themselves had excellent means of public relations. I don't think we "lost" maternal qualities in religions - I think that the old maternal religions were inevitably created by maternal people, who were notably not the ones with enough power to make them big.

Answer 9

I don't know what you mean about modern religions (or ancient religions).
From time immemorial until the end without end there had been, there is and there will be only one religion of God. Only God, man's Creator, knows who man is and only Him can give the best education to man by His religion through His successive Manifestations.
Anyone turns to Him, He will bestow infallible criteria to recognize His religion.
You can start by rereading some Holy Books.

Answer 10

I think it comes down to the fact that men were in charge, and were taught that women were not to be treated as people, but property.