I think one of the under appreciated scholars on early Western civilization is Gilbert Murray and some of the late 19th century work he represented. His most notable work being; The Five Stages of Greek Religion. (available on line, through Project Gutenberg)

Among the various points he makes is that the Christian Trinity comes from the Greek year gods, which represented the changing of the seasons. Apparently there was a tradition of appointing a young male as year king and treating him like royalty. Then in the spring bacchanalia, the young women would tear him apart and plant the pieces as a fertility rite. As they grew more civil/sedate, this became more metaphorical and the legend of Jesus, as a king, killed and reborn, served as a useful analogy. So God as Father, Son and Holy Ghost, became a symbol for past, present and future. Which the Catholic Church, as the eternal institution, did its best to obscure, at least until Martin Luther sought to push the reset button. Which was what Jesus had tried to do, with Judaism.

Another point in Murray’s writings was that for the Ancients, there was little distinction between religion and politics. Such that monotheism equated to monarchy. One God, one ruler. While poly and pantheism was representative of more democratic and republican forms of government. As in many gods, many voices.

As monotheism became the given religion for the West, monarchy became the given political model. Aka, the Divine Right of Kings.

It should be noted that when we went back to democratic forms, the separation of church and state became a necessity.

The logical flaw in monotheism is that a spiritual absolute would necessarily be the essence of sentience, from which we rise, not an ideal of wisdom and judgement, from which we fell. More the new born, than the wise old man. The consciousness seeking knowledge, than any particular form of knowledge. The light shining through, than any images on the film.

Reality could reasonably be described by the relationship between energy and the forms it manifests. Galaxies, for example, are energy radiating out, as mass coalesces in. As biological entities, we have the digestive, respiratory and circulatory systems processing the energy driving us on, while the central nervous system sorts through the information produced to judge what actions to take.

This is also reflective of our political conflicts, as the multitudes of desires and impulses bubble up, while the civil and cultural structures evolve though the feedback of regulating and selecting these emotive and impulsive forces, often identified with the heart and gut.

So trying to understand society, while dismissing religious beliefs, would be like trying to understand thought, while dismissing emotion. It is all feedback between processes and the patterns generated.