Category Archives: Introduction

Do people scrutinize religion and criticize it because they have a personal axe to grind?Certainly, different individuals have differing motives. It is also the case that a single individual can be energized by multiple motives. My interest in the subject, … Continue reading →

All humans are innately prepared to engage in dominance-and-submission behavior, either in orthodox hierarchies or in reverse hierarchies that are operated decisively by the rank and file. – Christopher Boehm (1) To believe there is a single reason for belief … Continue reading →

The worldwide similarity of religious phenomena is easy to point out: they include formalized ritual behavior appropriate for veneration; the practice of offerings, sacrifices, vows and prayers with reference to superior beings; and songs, tales, teachings, and explanations about these … Continue reading →

There exist no human societies without some form of power structure, which is not surprising to the biologist as there are hardly any social animals without such a structure. This means that dominance hierarchies, rank-orders, pecking orders, or whatever we … Continue reading →

I am referring to a tendency for human beings to develop, over time and by means of face-to-face interaction, stable systems of relations in which some individuals systematically exert dominance of some kind over other individuals. . . . However … Continue reading →

And leveling the human hierarchy is a continuous struggle for the simple reason that we are born to strive for status. – Frans de Waal (19) Rather than in terms of personal power and position in a hierarchy, humans frequently … Continue reading →

Dominance is not always attained and maintained through hostility. Particularly when the hierarchy is stable and/or the rank difference is large, dominant individuals will treat subordinates with friendliness. Similarly, submissive individuals will respond to superiors with overtures of friendliness or … Continue reading →

The word baal meant, in the various Semitic languages, “master” or “owner,” sometimes in a very mundane sense. . . . “Baal” was also used as a common title for Semitic deities with the precise connotation of the English “Lord.” … Continue reading →

Last night one of my dogs starting scratching at the carpet, as if digging. This was not unusual. She persisted in her scratching, despite the fact that no forest duff was flying from beneath her paw, no impression being left … Continue reading →

Hierarchy is indeed found in every human society where people have looked closely for it, and among children too young to talk. – Robert Wright, The Moral Animal In my Florida backyard I often observe lizards on the top rail … Continue reading →