Gender of god

[RichardMNixon]

I don't know offhand what pronoun most of you use for nonspecific gods, but I'd like to encourage all of you to refer to god as "it." Claiming god is male is every bit as absurd as claiming god is white. Aside from avoiding the general patriarchal, misogynistic unpleasantness of most religions, it also reminds us how patently absurd it is that the creator of the universe even has a gender relatable to humans. By calling god "he," I feel we're absentmindedly giving credence to the idea that we were created "in god's image."

Referring to hypothetical gods as "it" also highlights the fact YHWH is male, reminding theists that they are the ones making positive assertions. I think it's a win-win situation everywhere you look.

My one concern is that this wouldn't work in non-English languages with gendered nouns. Can deus, gott, or whathaveyou be neuter?

Any other thoughts on the matter?

 

[lrkun]

I don't know offhand what pronoun most of you use for nonspecific gods, but I'd like to encourage all of you to refer to god as "it." Claiming god is male is every bit as absurd as claiming god is white. Aside from avoiding the general patriarchal, misogynistic unpleasantness of most religions, it also reminds us how patently absurd it is that the creator of the universe even has a gender relatable to humans. By calling god "he," I feel we're absentmindedly giving credence to the idea that we were created "in god's image."

Referring to hypothetical gods as "it" also highlights the fact YHWH is male, reminding theists that they are the ones making positive assertions. I think it's a win-win situation everywhere you look.

My one concern is that this wouldn't work in non-English languages with gendered nouns. Can deus, gott, or whathaveyou be neuter?

Any other thoughts on the matter?

This will only apply on the abrahamic god, because on some culture, like the old greeks or romans for instance call their god/s Zeus/Jupiter who is a male.

I support the use of the word it. The only associated image comming from such is the clown from the old stephen king novel titled IT.

Furthermore, everyone is bound to learn english, which is an intuitive language to use.

To call such as it is also beneficial, because it only requires one syllable.

 

[RichardMNixon]

This will only apply on the abrahamic god, because on some culture, like the old greeks or romans for instance call their god/s Zeus/Jupiter who is a male.

I still generally refer to the Abrahambic god as "he," in the same way I would refer to a male character from a novel. I'm suggesting the "it" pronoun when discussing unknown or deist gods however.

 

[Yfelsung]

Most of us are from societies where God is a man. Whether expressly defined in the holy book of question or simply implied due the fact the books were written by misogynistic tribes of pissed of desert nomads. I do my best to speak of god in a less Abrahamic-centric way, but it's tough.

I'm still prone to yelling "oh my god" or other such things because it's not belief, it's culture. I doubt I will ever be able to completely shake calling god a "he".

Though I have been trying to invent new, gender ambiguous gods to use in debate and conversation, my my multi-phasic cheese beast, god of all cheese that exists between realities.

 

[lrkun]

This will only apply on the abrahamic god, because on some culture, like the old greeks or romans for instance call their god/s Zeus/Jupiter who is a male.

I still generally refer to the Abrahambic god as "he," in the same way I would refer to a male character from a novel. I'm suggesting the "it" pronoun when discussing unknown or deist gods however.

I'm confused, I thought you're promoting the idea that we call god/s - it.

 

[RichardMNixon]

I'm still prone to yelling "oh my god" or other such things because it's not belief, it's culture. I doubt I will ever be able to completely shake calling god a "he".

I definitely agree, I had to make a conscious effort to start using g instead of G, my next effort was in removing the gender.

I'm confused, I thought you're promoting the idea that we call god/s - it.

Just the pronoun. God is still a word suitable as a subject, but when you use a pronoun to refer to god, I would advocate neuter gender pronouns

 

[lrkun]

I'm still prone to yelling "oh my god" or other such things because it's not belief, it's culture. I doubt I will ever be able to completely shake calling god a "he".

I definitely agree, I had to make a conscious effort to start using g instead of G, my next effort was in removing the gender.

I'm confused, I thought you're promoting the idea that we call god/s - it.

Just the pronoun. God is still a word, but I'm advocating gender neutral pronouns to refer to it.

I see. Well, I can respect that.

 

[Yfelsung]

I try to use God when speaking of the Abrahamic god, as God is one of his names. He's literally a god named God.

When speaking of a more abstract notion, or speaking of polytheistic faiths, I try to use god or gods without the capitalization.

 

[lrkun]

More often than not, I refer to such as unknown. More lovingly as he or she who is unknown.

 

[MineMineMine]

the abrahamistic god is often referred to as father so 'he' would actually more correct than 'it' .X

 

[lrkun]

the abrahamistic god is often referred to as father so 'he' would actually more correct than 'it' .X

That is true. But I call such it nevertheless. I chose to do so. ehhe

 

[TheFlyingBastard]

The Torah also literally states in Exodus 15:3 that Yahweh is a manly person of war. So that kind of closes the deal for the Abrahamic god.

 

[MineMineMine]

The Torah also literally states in Exodus 15:3 that Yahweh is a manly person of war. So that kind of closes the deal for the Abrahamic god.

well does the qu'ran state the gender of allah? if not i would feel compelled to call 'it' she

 

[TheFlyingBastard]

well does the qu'ran state the gender of allah? if not i would feel compelled to call 'it' she

Same god, but whatever.
I haven't actually read all of the Qu'ran, maybe Story could shed some more light on this?

 

[Nautyskin]

Claiming god is male is every bit as absurd as claiming god is white.

Claiming anything about any god is absurd.

I think the 'it' idea is probably a good one.

 

[ShootMyMonkey]

Same god, but whatever.
I haven't actually read all of the Qu'ran, maybe Story could shed some more light on this?

It's a bit odd because although Allah is basically Yahweh/Elohim in a different language. The Qur'an itself tends to very frequently take messages dictated to Mohammed from Allah spoken as if Allah is one of a collective. It usually uses the word "we" or "us" when Allah speaks to Mohammed, perhaps referring to Allah and a bunch of angels. Or perhaps Allah speaks in a way similar to the Queen of England and speaks as if to be a representative for all supernatural beings. Nonetheless, it is basically the same deity described in the Bible and the Torah, so it's still "Him," even though pronouns are almost never used when Mohammed refers to Allah.

Mostly, I've only heard of much more ancient religions having some reference to a creator deity which is female. The only one of these which is actually currently practiced in large populations is Hinduism. The older traditions of Hinduism make the supreme deity a goddess (Sri Devi) rather than a god, while the 3 god commonly known are depicted as "aspects" of her power... the rationale they applied in devising this was the notion that the creation of life is exclusively the domain of mothers. In the end, Hinduism being a "disorganized religion" by nature means that there was a disapora of several schools -- e.g. Shaivam,Vaishnavam -- and they proclaimed their castes to be the ones exalted according to the varna system. Still, various incarnations of "Devi/Durga" are still the most worshiped deities in India.

 

[TheFlyingBastard]

That's called majestic plural, I think. It happens a lot in middle-east languages.

 

[Exmortis]

I don't know exactly but wasn't the Christian god was created in a time when men were the dominant gender. Well, if males were considered better then females at that time then god obviously wouldn't be described as female.
Besides, isn't the whole Jesus killing himself and moving back into god's super cool, fluffy, cloud mansion all about redeeming the massive shitstorm that females supposedly brought on humankind?

 

[nemesiss]

the abrahamistic god is often referred to as father so 'he' would actually more correct than 'it' .X

And because of that statement, i love to piss of people by stating that their god is actually a closet-homosexual.
in the OT he claims homosexuality is wrong, but what did he create first... a man! not a female, a male human!

the expressions on their faces is priceless.

 

[FaithlessThinker]

well does the qu'ran state the gender of allah? if not i would feel compelled to call 'it' she

I'd reckon it's a "he", since allah has very masculine qualities. But then again it could be "they" since a lot of times in quran, allah refers to itself/himself as "we."