Why is God not female?

[LONDONER]

OK,I'm a non believer but this might me of interest to those of you who have religious convitions,

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-3296050...a&ns_fee=0

[jaxc]

I like the black guys ti-shirt in the article

[ceez]

I was going to respond with, because the bigots said he's not.

[himself]

I'm just going to call you out, here. If God identifies as male, we should use male pronouns to refer to him rather than misgender him.

There is a panel show in the UK, 8 Out of 10 Cats. This comedian, Katherine Ryan (she's Canadian) is on it from time to time. She said that maybe God is a woman and that's why she never makes herself known to us. She's incandescent with rage and she's giving us the silent treatment.

[Virge]

He doesn't look good in heels and little black dresses?????

[ShiftyNJ]

This is a tricky one. Christians grew up with the Gospels in which Jesus refers to "the father" and "my father" but who knows if that is not just because the (human) writers of scripture had no word or concept for a genderless being. Within my church and others, there have been many efforts to de-gender God, some of them painful. I know when I recite the Nicene Creed I get looks because I deliberately refer to the 1st and 3rd persons in the Trinity in genderless terms, as in "We believe in the Holy Spirit... who has spoken through the prophets".

I'm comfortable with the idea of Jesus as the human manifestation God chose in that place and time being a dude (and being dude-oriented, I like that), but in other contexts I avoid calling god "he". I also believe that the same god , which I don't try to describe besides a cosmic, positive force for good, manifests differently for different people (which is why various belief systems work for some and not others). I am only a Christian because that is how I was raised and what makes the most sense to me, but I think the concepts one learns from faith are pretty universal.

[mrex]

no that kind of problem here where i live. we have only one pronoun for 3rd person (for a human) which doesnt indicate the gender.

but... as long as i remember, they always have talked about a father, not about a mother, in a religious book. (or books)

BUT... it is much easier for me, because i dont believe in god. why is there no god? because emptiness doesnt answer back.

[Demosthenes]

This is a tricky one. Christians grew up with the Gospels in which Jesus refers to "the father" and "my father" but who knows if that is not just because the (human) writers of scripture had no word or concept for a genderless being. Within my church and others, there have been many efforts to de-gender God, some of them painful. I know when I recite the Nicene Creed I get looks because I deliberately refer to the 1st and 3rd persons in the Trinity in genderless terms, as in "We believe in the Holy Spirit... who has spoken through the prophets".

I'm comfortable with the idea of Jesus as the human manifestation God chose in that place and time being a dude (and being dude-oriented, I like that), but in other contexts I avoid calling god "he". I also believe that the same god , which I don't try to describe besides a cosmic, positive force for good, manifests differently for different people (which is why various belief systems work for some and not others). I am only a Christian because that is how I was raised and what makes the most sense to me, but I think the concepts one learns from faith are pretty universal.

I don't think the writers had any problem finding a neutral characterization (metaphor) for God. John certainly hadn't, for example. What's curious is how christians mistakenly take their transcendent God to be just another being. As transcendent, God is wholly other, transcends human apprehension and categories. But, I guess, it's tempting to have your own cake and eat it too.

[artyboy]

Why should it even be a gender. As I thought gods were above mere things.

[CellarDweller]

This reminds me of a bit I saw a commedienne do once.

"My daddy was a Baptist minister, and he said to me once, 'Darlin', God is niether male nor female. God is neither black, nor white. God is neither gay, nor straight. Do you understand what I'm saying?" and I said: "Yes....God is Michael Jackson!"