Part of the problem is that in the west, we equate religion with monotheism.
To the Ancients, there wasn’t much distinction between religion, essentially culture, and government. Monotheism equated with despotism, aka monarchy. As in one god, one ruler. While poly and pantheism aligned with democracy and republicanism. As in many gods, many voices, power centers.
As our ideals based culture settled into monotheism, on the assumption, often politically motivated, that we are all heading towards some better, ideal state, this meant the divine right of kings became the default political system. It was when we started to go back to more democratic political models, as those top down, singular systems frayed, that separation of church and state became necessary.
The logical fallacy of monotheism would be that a spiritual absolute would necessarily be the essence of sentience, from which we rise. Not an ideal of wisdom and judgment, from which we fell. More the new born, than the wise old man. Consciousness seeking knowledge, than any particular form of it. The light shining through the film, than the images on it.
So good and bad are simply the biological binary of beneficial and detrimental, not a cosmic duel between the forces of righteousness and evil. What is good for the fox, is bad for the chicken and there is no middle ground, other than the energies comprising the chicken becoming the fox.
It is just that in order to function as a whole, society needs some essential structure and rules, which having to constantly be taught to new generations, are easily expressed as given by a father figure.
Reality is that dichotomy of energy radiating out, as form coalesces in. Galaxies are light radiating out, as mass coalesces in. Our bodies have the digestive, respiratory and circulatory system processing the energy driving us on, along with the central nervous system distilling out useful forms/information, to navigate our journey. Along with having to sort through and referee the diverse emotional energies and impulses.
Society is that raw social energy bubbling up, generally equated with liberalism, along with the civil and cultural forms coalescing in, associated with conservatism, to give this drive structure and order.
It is just that in our ideals based culture, both sides see themselves as on the path to that better world, without understanding they are two sides of the same coin.
Even materialism is an ideal, as what we experience is that tension, friction and balance of opposing forces.
Just because everything is connected, doesn’t make it singular, only networked. When we appreciate that culturally, we will get beyond this fanatic monism.
A book I recommend on the origins of religion is Gilbert Murray’s; The Five Stages of Greek Religion;
