John Raabe's
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Living in a Post-Monotheistic World
   Sex, motivation, and technology in the coming Era

The organic model for the path we travel as a species is the double helix of our DNA. From one historic era to the next we spiral upwards covering similar ground when seen from a two dimensional viewpoint, but with an increasingly higher and more symbolic understanding. As with all life, our complexity increases as our evolution and experience accumulates. For thousands of years human evolution has been in the mental, social and spiritual realm — we have left the physical body largely unchanged. As a species we seem to be about ready to take a new step up the spiral staircase of our evolution. The term "post-monotheistic" describes an emerging mindset that is superficially similar to the pre-Christian world view of the Celts, Druids or Native Americans and includes these common principles: God is in all things Nature is sacred Power exists and comes to us from the non-physical realm. While these ideas can seem both "new age" and uncivilized at the same time, we are not in danger of returning to the idol worship or totemistic superstitions of the past. We are on a different part of the spiral and have learned much during the male-energized monotheistic era. The era of monotheistic thought was the domain of male energy. It was men who brought down the tablets, built the sailing ships and discovered the laws of atomic energy. It was a great historic time, but that several thousand year era feels like it is coming to a close and a more feminine viewpoint is quickly replacing it. The final ejaculation of the long term male era was the explosions of atomic force released at the end of World War II. That explosion was like a wake up call for the earth. The atomic bomb made it clear to all that as Einstein put it, "the problems we now face will not be solved with the same thinking that got us into the problem in the first place". New thinking was needed and new thinking is what we are now getting! The male-dominated era focused on conquest and control of the physical and social world. New era thinking is largely feminine in character — nurturing rather than conquering, symbolic rather than physical, inclusive and expansive rather than exclusive and contractive. The increasingly important role of women in our society since the atomic bomb is no accident of history. It represents a massive transfer of power and responsibility for the future of the planet. Men will still have important roles in the new era, just as they did in the pre-monotheistic world, but the guiding energy will be feminine. This female energy, and the role of women who can express it in the world, is on the rise. Sixty percent of the students currently enrolled in colleges and universities are women. Men are choosing technical training and other shorter term educational objectives. We may soon become a culture where the planners and managers are women and the men are the worker bees. Would this be a better world or a worse world? In the abstract, the feminine principle is said to understand the connectedness and sacredness of life. Most religions have a concept of  "all is one"— that we are all connected. This type of thinking might be expected to become more popular in a time when feminine energy was rising. While the concept exists in all major religions, it has not been a powerful force during the age of conquest. A full experience of "all is one" dissolves the concept of monotheism into irrelevancy — what does it mean to have one and only one god when god is in everything? Monotheism , however, was a perfect religious concept for the age of conquest. It empowered an omnipotent male god divorced from the physical world who handed down orders to his subordinates. These became the MARCHING ORDERS OF DOMINATION — how to structure society, how to build a dualistic world of good and bad, how to live a responsible life as master of the family, tribe, and nation. Not all the lessons we were given during this period have been learned, of course (especially the more universal ones). These concepts formed the foundation of all the word-based religions of the conquest era. Judaism was the first, but Christianity and Islam followed in much the same model. All western religions are based on the powerful Jewish concept of a special relationship with God and the separation of mankind from nature. Writing was the single most important enabling technology of the conquest era. The concept of Moses coming down from the mountain with stone tablets containing the commandments of God is the lynch pin image of the era. Monotheism could not have spread and brought about the huge increase in human consciousness without writing. Writing also bore other powerful fruit during this time — the invention of science and technology, and the rule of law to name only two. Additionally, as writing and reading raised consciousness, people realized they had the ability to contact God more directly. This led to the concept of equality and personal rights and did much to counter the tendency of political and religious organizations to fill all available space. The rise of political democracy and the concept of equality between the races and sexes (strong new concepts developed only in the past two centuries) were precursor stages necessary for the birth of the new caretaker era. While feminine in its energy, this new era will probably not be dominated by women. Domination is not an expression of nurturing energy. (Interestingly, many of the early female leaders of the "Women's Movement" were using the old tools of the male era rather than expressing the new energy of their coming inevitable victory.) Most of us can already see that feminine energy is on the rise and that historic male energy is in decline. This is happening all around us, certainly in American culture. Many men are uncertain of exactly what their gender role is and where their true strength might lie. This uncertainty is at the heart of much of the fear in the world. * * * * UPDATE * * * * The ferocious attacks of 9-11-01 by Islamic fundamentalist can be seen as a strong reactive male response to the general feminization of world cultures. This volatile cultural fragment would have the world return to a 7th century caliphate where men ruled with absolute power and women were regarded as private sexual property. This anti-cultural movement serves as a container for the frustrations and fears of many muslims who have felt abandoned by the cultural and material shifts of the last 50 years. While feminine energy expands and extends life and the joy of living, this dark side of masculine energy seeks to expand death by unleashing powerful destructive forces. While such a cultural fragment can be quite destructive, it is unlikely to prevail. In fact, it may have the purpose of solidifying the caretaking energy and awakening it to the needs of "problem" cultures not in the main stream of cultural evolution. We may see the development of new outreach programs based on a Peace Corps (teaching & technology), Marshall plan (economy & business) or "cultural missionary" (philosophy & religion) model. * * * * * * * * * "New" definitions of what it means to be a man ("Iron John", by Robert Bly) are coming from a rediscovery of male myths from a much earlier era — from a period before the word religions and before the conquest era. This was a time when men were able to find and define their power within a feminine principled world. For those of us who grew up in a time when men were still going to Africa to slay big animals, these old myths have more to teach us about our future as men than do the movies of John Wayne. Subtle unnoticed motivations are what channel the human energy system and make it flow in certain directions. Background social motivation strongly influences human actions and decisions over time. These motivational forces influence the direction of society — what is called "history" when seen in the rear-view mirror. Yet background social motivation is almost invisible — it's like a fish trying to talk about water. Each era can not imagine a world without the structural motivation or "mindset" that they ascribe to reality. Yet there are dramatic changes over time (though usually not decernable in one generation). In one era this energy may be channeled into the organization of a conquering wave of humanity such as the one built by Genghis Khan, or into the building of huge dams and factories as was done throughout the world over the last 100 years. When the climate of this background motivation changes, what was easy to do before is no longer possible. At the same time new opportunities and ideas arise. Who today can motivate a crowd when talking about a new grand government project or a great earthworking endeavor like cutting a canal or dredging a river? Bill Clinton tried and failed with a national health care plan. Such projects were strong public motivators only a few years ago. On the other hand volunteerism is on the rise even during a time when most people are working more than they would like. No one knows what mechanisms influence these subtle but powerful social motivations. Let's imagine that caretaking is the primary nature of the coming new era. This may be overly optimistic - we could still destroy ourselves in a final orgy of destruction and conquest. Still, a caretaking relationship is probably the only way to save both the planet and most of its human inhabitants, so we may yet muddle through.... As an exercise, consider these possible contrasts between the two eras:

Concept	Conquest Era expression	Caretaker Era expression
Nature	A scary wild place that must be tamed and controlled. Use land, plants and animals as needed. Exploit for one-time use, God says it's okay since he gave it to us.	An uplifting place communicating with us about the variety and generosity of life. Land, plants, animals and humans all share in a process of evolution and recycling. All life is connected. All life is compost.
Outsiders	Protect the tribe. Don't trust foreigners. They are different from us; God doesn't like them. Fight against and subdue.	All humans share a universal consciousness. I can do you no harm or encroach upon your rights without also injuring the fabric of my own reality.
God	Lives in a special place I cannot experience during my life. Wants me to be good and will reward me if I am. Cares about me personally.	Lives in all of life and can be experienced anytime I open myself to it. Infinitely patient and forgiving but non-judgmental. Does not reward or punish.

What will our future be in this caretaker era? Click here to go to go to ideas of the Future.

© John Raabe, 1998 (Started 7/21/97, last revised 6/23/04)