By studying anthropology and the history of religions, the author offers evidence for the belief system of the egalitarian hunters who spread across the globe. In the Near East, the area from the mountains in Turkey to the Persian Gulf, people traded freely without evidence of borders and conflict. Then social hierarchy became evident in a small area. Shortly after this, a number of hierarchal sites appeared suddenly, and the population was given to building massive structures, and city walls. They were divided into ethnic factions, trade was controlled by and benefitted elites. Relative position between these factions was determined by war and political instability.
Developed over forty years, The Separation of Heaven and Earth points out that a single cosmological theme was present in ancient literature as well as recent preliterate hierarchies. The cosmology justifying the elites in hierarchical societies provided for the society by control of nature. Those few groups that have remained egalitarian do not use this cosmology. They are not dependent on the rituals of a social hierarchy; they depend on the providence of their creator.
A brief re-cap of the book's development by chapter follows:
- The book begins with a review based on anthropological literature of the Supreme Being of primitive societies.
- The second chapter recounts the archeological literature that identifies the places and conditions under which the earliest hierarchical societies occurred in the Old World.
- The third chapter compares the cosmologies of ancient literate societies as well as the similarity of later African hierarchy.
- The fourth chapter is philosophical, addressing the implications of approaching data with differing presuppositions.
- The fifth chapter treats the separation myth itself. For an example of this cosmology the Maori origin myth is given in some detail pointing out some of its implications for their social order.
- The sixth and seventh chapters focus on cosmologies and cultures in the Mesopotamian Valley.
- The eighth chapter traces similar developments among the Austronesian language group.
- Chapter nine compares two Nilotic tribes in Africa, demonstrating conclusively that for them it is the separation of heaven and earth cosmology that distinguishes an egalitarian group of herders from their neighbors who have a "sacred" leader.
- Chapter ten makes a similar comparison using tribal groups from central and southeast Australia.
- Chapter eleven looks at the earliest evidences for hierarchy in the Americas.
- Chapter twelve draws together key points and relates ancient developments to our own society today.
While this study draws on the early annals of human society, the dichotomy of views it describes reverberates to our own day. Most political conservatives in the United States consider the nation to be egalitarian. The Preamble of the Declaration of Independence stated the basis of this egalitarianism:
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."
There was a time when those in academia also accepted this statement. But it is not true now for many in the secular academy. By their assumptions, secularists must define the social structure on the basis of its practices, not the belief in a Supreme Being.
However, if egalitarian is to be identified by its practices rather than its belief structure, what practices are referenced to define egalitarian and how are those practices to be viewed? If a secularist finds egalitarianism a worthy ideal, how will this ideal be accomplished? By definition of an egalitarian society is one in which all are equal. But equal with respect to what? Is this an equality of influence, of opportunity, of gender, of age, of race? Clearly, individuals are unique and to make them "equal" on any or all of these levels can pose significant challenges for society. Even more to the point, if "not equal" by some definition, how is "equality" provided? Without belief in the providence of a Supreme Being the elites in society assume the role of provider, bringing us face to face with the myth from human antiquity, The Separation of Heaven and Earth.
