May 06 2009
Sexual Rivalries and a God Taking Sides
When you go to war against your enemies and the LORD your God delivers them into your hands and you take captives, if you notice among the captives a beautiful woman and are attracted to her, you may take her as your wife. (Deuteronomy 21:10-11)
No, the above Bible verse does not specify, “beautiful, single woman.” Human sexual behavior is a complicated subject, indeed. And while studying the sexual behavior of other primates may suggest some mechanisms in play in human sexuality, it far from proves it. Still, analogous human-primate behavior may shed light on the non-conscious “reasons” our kind tends to behave the way it does. It may also make our conscious reasons superfluous. As one might guess, I see religious-slash-supernatural reasoning as fully superfluous.
Consider these primatological findings followed by Bible verses.
“Alpha” male chimpanzees will interrupt the mating of less dominant males. (37)
These are those who did not defile themselves with women, for they kept themselves pure. They follow the Lamb wherever he goes. (Revelation 14:4)
What is most likely to lead a male human astray? Answer: a seemingly sexually receptive female. If you desire a perfectly harmonious hierarchy of males, perhaps it is best to leave females out of the mix.
By the way, the reason why females are often portrayed as the more sin-provoking gender–Eve eating the forbidden fruit and all that–is that, surprise! they have unconscious mating mandates themselves. And they will conflict with that of the ruling males. Bad females! Naughty females!
The book The Moral Animal: Evolutionary Psychology and Everyday Life contains a photo of a more dominant male chimpanzee jumping on a female for mating with a less dominant male. (38) Sure, we humans never do that. Well, sometimes some will. But do we put codes into our moral “laws” that seek to stifle female sexual freedom for male gain? Yes.
A dominant chimp male has access to any female. And whether or not she mates with him – “he shuts off alternatives by frightening other males. He can frighten her too, so that any spurning of low-ranking males may reflect only her fear. (Indeed, the spurning has been known to disappear when the alpha isn’t looking.)” (39)
Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. (Ephesians 5:22)
(40) See also 1 Corinthians 11, Colossians 3, 1 Timothy 2, 1 Peter 3
Even among those apparently placid close relatives of chimpanzees, the bonobos, male dominance rank will affect their chances of mating. While bonobos may appear to be the peace-love-and-equality flower-children primates, looking beyond first glance conclusions may tell another story. In a paper titled, “Male rank order and copulation rate in a unit-group of bonobos at Wamba, Zaïre,” we find this conclusion: “male-male sexual competition is more intense than has previously been thought.” (41)
Now I want you to realize that the head of every man is Christ. (1 Corinthians 11:3)
Because many religions appear to encourage male submission to a greater power, how, we are right to ask, could this have a payoff in terms of mating and the replication of selfish genes?
First of all, it is fully possible that the submissive element to religions is not directly about sex and procreation but more about social harmony and limiting potentially disruptive behavior. Including specific types of sexual behavior.
However, it is very difficult to see beneath apparent reasons. One fact that causes me to pause and wonder is a mating strategy employed by males in a number of species. Subordinate individuals will send submission signals to the dominant male so as to mollify him and remain in close proximity to females, thus increasing their access to both food and females. (42)
Do religions preach and encourage a sexual democracy? Bow down to the great alpha and then all men shall have an equal shot at fathering children? Does the hierarchical order of invisible agents that religions advertise provide a social group with stability at the top without a fat slice of the mating pie being lost? I don’t have the answers. But I do have plenty of questions. And I hope these questions lead to a greater understanding of the drawbacks and potential benefit of religion to believers, past and perhaps even present.
—
(37) Nishida, T., and Hosaka, K., “Coalition strategies among adult male chimpanzees of the Mahale Mountains, Tanzania” in McGrew, W. C. , Marchant, L. F. & Nishida, T., Great Ape Societies, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 1996.
(38) Wright, R., The Moral Animal: Evolutionary Psychology and Everyday Life, Vintage, NY, 1995.
(39) Wright, R., 1995, p.52
(40) See also 1 Corinthians 11, Colossians 3, 1 Timothy 2, 1 Peter 3
(41) Kano, T., “Male rank order and copulation rate in a unit-group of bonobos at Wamba, Zaïre,” in McGrew, W. C. , Marchant, L. F. & Nishida, T., Great Ape Societies, 1996, p. 142
(42) McFarland, D. Ed., The Oxford Companion to Animal Behavior, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1982, p.140
