NationStates Jolt Archive

I just came to think over one thing lately: is it not discrimination that God is stated to be a man (the father, the son etc.)?
I know that the bible and other documents related to christianity are childrne of their time, but shouldn't some religious leader take responsibility for this in modern time? I'm not personal christian, but i believe there's gotta be some sort of power behind the whole, and ive always figured it had to a non-gender type of existance, that looks on genders as equal.

Ok, the point about christianity could really include any religion calling their god with genders.

hry mr chrstn bshng, kp p th gd wrk!

I just came to think over one thing lately: is it not discrimination that God is stated to be a man (the father, the son etc.)?
I know that the bible and other documents related to christianity are childrne of their time, but shouldn't some religious leader take responsibility for this in modern time? I'm not personal christian, but i believe there's gotta be some sort of power behind the whole, and ive always figured it had to a non-gender type of existance, that looks on genders as equal.
It's just a word. Only idiots believe it means He was/is actually male.

hry mr chrstn bshng, kp p th gd wrk!
Still can't find your vowels, then?

It's just a word. Only idiots believe it means He was/is actually male.

unfortunatly there are a hell of a lot of idiots in the world... not just in christianity, but in other religions where 'god' is refered to as 'he/him' too...

Still can't find your vowels, then?

my kybrd sn't wrkng prprly, y gt sd t t thgh!

my kybrd sn't wrkng prprly, y gt sd t t thgh!
Well, at least you're in the right thread today.

It's just a word. Only idiots believe it means He was/is actually male.
of course, but shouldn't someone high in christian communities take responsibility and actually stand up and say that they consider it only a word?

Well, at least you're in the right thread today.

n vwls n th wrng thrd wld b fr t cnfsng t kp gng, ths s bd ngh!

It's just a word. Only idiots believe it means He was/is actually male.
Yeah personally I just think the method of referring to god as a “him” has to do with

1 projection of power in male hands at the time of religious text writing (males were perceived as the powerful ones … and ended up in the book and therefore into the religion)

2 patriarchal impression of how god acts (doesn’t mean he/she/it, if he/she/it exists is actually male but the “actions” are perceived to be sort of patriarchal rather then matriarchal (though there is some of that too overall I can see it tipping patriarchal))

Ah, I see the "bash a christian" threads have moved on to feminist critical theory.

Good show. Carry on.

You know, Stalin was once a student at an eastern orthodox seminary. Maybe the next "bash a Christian" thread can be about how christianity turns people into Soviet Dictators.

I would happily bash any other religion calling their god 'he' or 'she' .

I would happily bash any other religion calling their god 'he' or 'she' .
That's all of them, then.

I would happily bash any other religion calling their god 'he' or 'she' .


Well then you should really edit your original post to include just about every major religion. (Except hinduism. Probably).

I do not know any other religions calling their gods with gender, but i'm no religion expert, and as i live in a christian country ive been teached most about christianity.

I do not know any other religions calling their gods with gender, but i'm no religion expert, and as i live in a christian country ive been teached most about christianity.

practically every single religion in the known world (past and present) called their gods he/she. some were infact male/female gods, but sometimes they could be used interchangably as the god involved was both, neither or all genders.

Well then you should really edit your original post to include just about every major religion. (Except hinduism. Probably).
No, they are he or she also. Although some have feminine and masculine representations depending on what they're doing.

I think that except for a few animistic religions, that worship animals and the Earth and Sun, and Buddhism and Taoism that have no gods, in all others the god or gods are given gender and other human attributions.

It's to be expected, I guess. I doubt that humans would be able to relate to something completely alien.

EDIT: I was thinking that even in those religions that worship the Earth and the Sun, the Earth is usually given feminine attributes while the Sun is considered masculine. The Aztecs thought of the Sun as male and the Moon as female.

practically every single religion in the known world (past and present) called their gods he/she. some were infact male/female gods, but sometimes they could be used interchangably as the god involved was both, neither or all genders.
In fact, most through history have had a goddess as their main deity. Notable exceptions are, um, Christianity, Islam and Judaism. This is because when the Hebrews destroyed Canaan, they wanted to set up something completely different to make their mark, and one of the things they changed was to replace the goddess (and other deities) with a single male god.

To quote Mahatma Ghandi,
"I'd be a christian, except that I've met so many of them."

The teachings of Jesus Christ were basically that everyone should just get along. No war, no hate, no violence, no oppression, no one is greater than any other, and no one should be looked down upon because of what they are doing except in extreme irrevocable cases (murder, etc). If you put it this way, Jesus Christ was the world's first hippie.

If this were how the religion was conducted, I too would be a christian. However, it is not. The Christian churches of the world have seen to it that men are more powerful than women throughout the ages. They have seen to the killing of thousands (even millions). They have oppressed people who did not follow their faith blindly, and even murdered them. They continue to oppress people whom they feel are lesser to them (gays, divorcees, those who use birth control, unmarried couples, etc etc).

What this basically tells me is that I have no intention to follow the religion of Christianity, but that I will follow the general teachings of Jesus Christ. Which, as far as I am concerned means, be nice to everyone, no ifs ands or buts. This is also basically the teaching of Mohammed, Buddha, and the basic tenement of Wicca ("Harm no one").

If people would pay attention to the overall message, and not the details of how things happened...they might actually form a religion that makes sense AND doesn't hurt anyone.

Someone may have said this I don't know.

Jesus is the one called the "son" of God, because, he was a man. God has NO gender. Because preists are called fathers I guess they think God should be called one too.

Although there is discrimination in the church. Women aren't allowed to become priests, which I never understood. Churches discriminate against homosexuals all the time, even though Jesus would never turn away ANYone, no matter how big of a sinner that he thinks they are.

Well, as a politically active person, and as a Christian, there is my comment.

Bah, you can't edit....I realized that I didn't connect well to the point of this thread.

As long as the Christian Churches continue to pay attention to the details, and not the overall message, God will likely remain a he.

Someone may have said this I don't know.

Jesus is the one called the "son" of God, because, he was a man. God has NO gender. Because preists are called fathers I guess they think God should be called one too.

Although there is discrimination in the church. Women aren't allowed to become priests, which I never understood. Churches discriminate against homosexuals all the time, even though Jesus would never turn away ANYone, no matter how big of a sinner that he thinks they are.

Well, as a politically active person, and as a Christian, there is my comment.
It is stated in the bible that Jesus is in fact God, and that God is a he. The holy triunit or something like that.

To quote Mahatma Ghandi,
"I'd be a christian, except that I've met so many of them."

The teachings of Jesus Christ were basically that everyone should just get along. No war, no hate, no violence, no oppression, no one is greater than any other, and no one should be looked down upon because of what they are doing except in extreme irrevocable cases (murder, etc). If you put it this way, Jesus Christ was the world's first hippie.

If this were how the religion was conducted, I too would be a christian. However, it is not. The Christian churches of the world have seen to it that men are more powerful than women throughout the ages. They have seen to the killing of thousands (even millions). They have oppressed people who did not follow their faith blindly, and even murdered them. They continue to oppress people whom they feel are lesser to them (gays, divorcees, those who use birth control, unmarried couples, etc etc).



Sort of like how communism panned out then.

There actually are a number of refrences of God being refered to as female in the Bible

http://www.christian-thinktank.com/wnogod.html

'The bible was written by humans and so the things that are written in the bible shouldn't be interpreted too literally. Maybe God never told anybody that he is a man, but in those sovinistic times they thought that he is a guy. I personally believe in a greater force as well. Whatever that force is, it does not have a gender.

In fact, most through history have had a goddess as their main deity. Notable exceptions are, um, Christianity, Islam and Judaism. This is because when the Hebrews destroyed Canaan, they wanted to set up something completely different to make their mark, and one of the things they changed was to replace the goddess (and other deities) with a single male god.

my point was that virtually every single religion in existance past or present refered to their god(s) with some form of gender.

i know many of the earliest religions had them main or only god as a female (such as mother earth etc).

i was just pointing out to the guy who had no experience of any religion outside christianity that there is infact many different religions who have gender based gods, and many who simply refer to their god(s) using a non specific gender

my point was that virtually every single religion in existance past or present refered to their god(s) with some form of gender.

i know many of the earliest religions had them main or only god as a female (such as mother earth etc).

i was just pointing out to the guy who had no experience of any religion outside christianity that there is infact many different religions who have gender based gods, and many who simply refer to their god(s) using a non specific gender
Yes, I know. :) I was just elaborating.

Actually, from what I'm told, Islam does a decent job of removing gender from god's name, at least. Allah is an unusual word in the arabic language, as it does not denote gender and is incapable of taking a plural form.

Unless I was misinformed, of course.

It is stated in the bible that Jesus is in fact God, and that God is a he. The holy triunit or something like that.

Jumping in on this conversation, nowhere in the bible does it explicitly state that Jesus is God.

Also, within the Hebrew Bible God is referred to in male & female language. Much of it is indeed feminine. The translation of the text reflects the historical period of the translators and their attitudes. One must remember that the Bible was not written in the English language.

Also, in response to priests only being males, that is also an incorrect statement. There are female priests throughout the world who are Christian.