What we should probably be doing is examining the ideas on which society is based, not the artwork arising from it. One is cause, the other is effect. We can patch effect, but real change only comes when the causes are addressed.
I happened to hear on NPR, yesterday, Michael Hudson's most recent book, on the economics of the ancient world, being discussed, which is probably the most radical thinking out there.
One of his points is that Jesus's original saying, "Forgive them their debts." really meant just that, as the practice of debt jubilees had been neglected for some centuries and the gap between rich and poor, driven by predatory lending, had grown quite large.
It was only when Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire, that it became, "Forgive them their sins." As a way to guilt trip people into compliance with top down authority.
Another interesting book on the foundations of Western civilization is Gilbert Murray's, The Five Stages of Greek Religion.
One of the many interesting points he makes is that the Ancients were not entirely ignorant of monotheism, but since there was no split between culture and civics, religion and state, monotheism equated with authoritarianism, as in one god, one ruler.
Remember democracy and republicanism evolved in pantheistic cultures, which was their version and vision of the multiculturalism that developed as tribal societies developed into city and nation states. Many gods, many voices.
Constantine adopted Christian monotheism specifically to serve as validation for the Roman Empire.
The Trinity, emerging from the tradition of the Greek year gods, which symbolized the cycles of the seasons, on which the resurrection of Jesus is based, was to incorporate this deeper complexity.
Consequently the default political model for the following thousand+ years was monarchy and the "divine right of kings." When Western civilization went back to more populist forms of governance, it required the separation of church and state, culture and civics.
The basic logical fallacy of monotheism is that a spiritual absolute would be that essence of sentience, from which life rises, not an ideal of wisdom and judgment, from which it fell. Consciousness seeking knowledge, than any form or brand of it. The light shining through the film, than the images and storyline on it.
While the father figure lawgiver is a useful device for instilling respect for authority and culture into an ever regenerating population, conflating the ideal with the absolute has created serious social and political ramifications that need to be addressed.
As your essay makes clear, when we see our ideals as absolute, it leaves no room for debate and nuance.
All the political movements and ideologies that have sought to replace monarchy have tended to make this same assumption, that their ideals are absolute. From the Terrors of the French Revolution, to the purges of Stalinist Communism, to the various churchs of materialism, to even the current woke movement, any dissent or discussion is verbotten.
