From Valerie Moyses
Pre-Christian religions did concern themselves with morality. Egyptians believed over 4000 years ago that the soul would be judged. Prehistoric hunter-gatherer religions did not concern themselves with sexual morality, since for them the paternity of a child did not matter.
When people settled, men amassed goods and assets – which they wanted to benefit their true offspring, not a potential cuckoo in the nest. Women then had to be forced into monogamy. Hence honour killings, child marriage, female genital mutilation… all in the name of religion. Morality-based religions were invented by men to control women. If it ever happens, true male-female equality, not evolution, will cause moralising religions to vanish.
Bloxham, Oxfordshire, UK
