Why do we refer to God as male?

[annexi]

There have been a couple of responses like yours, essentially saying we refer to God as male because the bible says so. Who wrote the bible? Men. Men operating from a world view that regarded woman as fallen creatures, weak, inferior, property, etc. For this reason I'm not taking the word of a book written by men as the gospel truth no questions asked.

The whole feminine aspect of spirituality is totally given back burner status in the bible. That can't be right in a properly balanced worldview and God view. There has got to be more to the story of what God is.

If he existed, I would believe that God is a man. You either accept what is written, or you don't. That's faith.

Feminism can't seep itself into everything.

I agree, people believe God is male because they have faith that the written bible is true. However, I suggest that faith without reason (ie. use of logical thought to arrive at conclusions) is at best naive and at worst foolish. The world is mired in a patriarchal-dominant worldview and has been since religious texts were written. Couldn't that fact alone explain why religious texts portray God as male? We need to question how we've been programmed to think about God.

About feminism, had to look up what it means. Feminism is defined as seeking equality between women and men in political, social and economic realms. I can't see anything wrong with that. What would be wrong with seeking equality in the spiritual realm as well?

[FreeRights]

I agree, people believe God is male because they have faith that the written bible is true. However, I suggest that faith without reason (ie. use of logical thought to arrive at conclusions) is at best naive and at worst foolish. The world is mired in a patriarchal-dominant worldview and has been since religious texts were written. Couldn't that fact alone explain why religious texts portray God as male? We need to question how we've been programmed to think about God.

About feminism, had to look up what it means. Feminism is defined as seeking equality between women and men in political, social and economic realms. I can't see anything wrong with that. What would be wrong with seeking equality in the spiritual realm as well?

There can be equality in the spiritual realm without altering history. Feminism is great if it stays about equality, but in this particular case, it's taking feminism too far.

The majority of rulers in the history of mankind were male due to a patriarchal male-dominated worldview, but that doesn't mean that we should change it. There were very few great women leaders up until the 20th century, that we also can only refer to by way of a book. This doesn't mean we're going to go out and change genders in the name of equality, does it?

It was a heavily patriarchal society back then, but if you start applying actual logic and reasoning to holy texts, you will find yourself accidentally disproving a lot of what is written, not just stopping at God's gender.

Really, it shouldn't matter if God is a male. I would argue that it's feminism taken too far if having God be a male is going to affect your life at all.

[Poindexter]

Once we answer this we should move onto the more important questions such as; why do we refer tooth ferry as female?

[cliffy1]

Yah love hearing your opinion, that is what these forums are about. Sorry if I offended with my comment!
...
Why would you call the biblical God a "narcissistic psychopath"?

I wasn't offended by your comment but it appears that averagejoe was offended by mine. The god of the bible is jealous and angry, he does mass murders when they don't acknowledge him as their sovereign, he kills his own son to rectify his creating humans as imperfect, etc., etc.

PS: averagejoe, you know nothing of my beliefs. I can only guess why you would say such silly things.

[Hmmm]

I wasn't offended by your comment but it appears that averagejoe was offended by mine. The god of the bible is jealous and angry, he does mass murders when they don't acknowledge him as their sovereign, he kills his own son to rectify his creating humans as imperfect, etc., etc.

PS: averagejoe, you know nothing of my beliefs. I can only guess why you would say such silly things.

Have you ever asked yourself, why doesn't God act to remove badness and evil from the world? Those nations who were removed from the promised land by force were more evil than anything we see today.

[Thinktank]

Those nations who were removed from the promised land by force were more evil than anything we see today.

How do you know?

Killing 500,000 children in Iraq is bad.
Killing 40 million people in WW2 is bad.

Why were those people so much worse?

[averagejoe]

PS: averagejoe, you know nothing of my beliefs. I can only guess why you would say such silly things.

Sure! I"m sure you run naked in the forest on a full moon during the summer solstice or winter solstice and praying to your mythical mother earth. Isn't that what believers of gaia do? LOL

[cliffy1]

Sure! I"m sure you run naked in the forest on a full moon during the summer solstice or winter solstice and praying to your mythical mother earth. Isn't that what believers of gaia do? LOL

You have a sick and perverse imagination. Must come from believing in a sick and perverse god. Where did you get the idea that I believe in Gaia? She is a Greek goddess.
I believe in Life on Earth because it is tangible, scientifically provable and I can taste, smell and feel it all around me. What do you believe in? Oh Ya! Some imaginary invisible being who lives in the sky and sees everything and everybody.

[steven lloyd]

What do you believe in? Oh Ya! Some imaginary invisible being who lives in the sky and sees everything and everybody.

Don't forget chemtrails. Joe believes in chemtrails too.

[maryjane48]

there was all sorts of gods and just before the jews adopted one, which was imitated from egypt and sumeria , one the main gods was female

[annexi]

I agree, people believe God is male because they have faith that the written bible is true... The world is mired in a patriarchal-dominant worldview and has been since religious texts were written. Couldn't that fact alone explain why religious texts portray God as male? We need to question how we've been programmed to think about God.

...Feminism is defined as seeking equality between women and men in political, social and economic realms. I can't see anything wrong with that. What would be wrong with seeking equality in the spiritual realm as well?

There can be equality in the spiritual realm without altering history.

How so?

Feminism is great if it stays about equality, but in this particular case, it's taking feminism too far...The majority of rulers in the history of mankind were male due to a patriarchal male-dominated worldview, but that doesn't mean that we should change it [the concept of male God].

If it's a false concept, I think we should change it.

It matters because a male God-concept is a BIG part of how the patriarchal world view is maintained. It's deep social programming.

Further to the conversation, here's a quote quite pertinent to the point I'm making:

“History is written by the victors.”
- Winston Churchill

What if.. the male God-concept of written religious texts is ultimately a human-derived (and false) concept that keeps our world in a unbalanced (and devastating) patriarchal worldview?

[cliffy1]

What if.. the male God-concept of written religious texts is ultimately a human-derived (and false) concept that keeps our world in a unbalanced (and devastating) patriarchal worldview?

What do you mean "what if"? It was.



PS: †his isn't aimed at you annexi, just a general call out to the majority of sheeple.

[FreeRights]

How so?

The gender of anything should not matter. In Canada, we don't have much of a gender issue at all. If you feel second-class because God's gender is different than yours, then this feminism isn't about equality at all.

If it's a false concept, I think we should change it.

It matters because a male God-concept is a BIG part of how the patriarchal world view is maintained. It's deep social programming.

Further to the conversation, here's a quote quite pertinent to the point I'm making:

“History is written by the victors.”
- Winston Churchill

The issue is, is it a false concept? It's written fairly clearly and actually written in a few different areas that God is a male. Without having any other supporting evidence besides "men make mistakes, this might be one too," isn't good enough.

I submit that a gender-based worldview has nothing to do with God's gender, but people's response to it. In Western nations, the gender imbalance is literally so slight that wouldn't make a difference if we announced that God is a female.

What if.. the male God-concept of written religious texts is ultimately a human-derived (and false) concept that keeps our world in a unbalanced (and devastating) patriarchal worldview?

What if, but what if you're wrong?

Most historical figures were written by men. Maybe Catherine the Great or Joan of Arc were also both men. The texts about them were also written by man so mistakes could be made.

Point being, what if you're wrong? I, for one, would be absolutely opposed to changing history without having some fairly significant factual evidence supporting such a change.

[annexi]

I think the verse saying 'God created man in his own image' would be more accurately re-written as 'Man created God in his own image'.

I'm wagering God is way less human-like than what religion makes 'him' out to be.

[FreeRights]

I think the verse saying 'God created man in his own image' would be more accurately re-written as 'Man created God in his own image'.

I'm wagering God is way less human-like than what religion makes 'him' out to be.

It's natural for us all to have hunches or opinions about things. But without having any significant facts beyond it being a hunch or a feeling really makes me opposed to using it to change something that's established.