Sunday Musings
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| God of Christianity Source: Here |
In a recent
article in the New York Times, a
Jewish rabbi raised the question whether God is transgender. He points out that in the Hebrew Bible, when
read in its original language, gender is not always precisely demarcated. For example, Eve is referred to as “he” in
one place, Adam as “them” and Rebecca as a “young man.” “These aren’t typos,” the rabbi asserts and
explains that “In the ancient world, well-expressed gender fluidity was the
mark of a civilized person. Such a person was considered more ‘godlike’.”
Why wouldn’t a god have
the maternal tenderness of a woman, for example? Why should any god be deprived of the good
qualities that women possess? Why should
a god necessarily be a man?
Of course, there are many
ancient religions including India’s Hinduism which have both gods and
goddesses. But in the world’s dominant
monotheistic religions, God is necessarily a man. Why?
The answer is fairly
simple. These are patriarchal religions
made by men who thought that women were inferior, more fallible, or potentially
dangerous to the man’s sexual morality.
There are or could be many other reasons too. The very first sin (“original sin”? – James Joyce
asked the question what was so original about it in his classical novel, Ulysses) was committed by the woman,
Eve.
The simple truth is that
all the three dominant monotheistic religions – Christianity, Islam and Judaism
– have always circumscribed the role and position of women in the society. It is only natural that their God is
male.
But why should God have
any gender at all? That’s what the rabbi’s
NYT article made me think. Why should
god be male or female or even neutral gender?
Sex is meant for reproduction.
(Let us leave aside the secondary and other uses of sex for the time being.) The God of all the three dominant
monotheistic religions is a chronic bachelor.
Sexuality is seen as something vulgar if not evil by all the three
religions. It is then a logical
necessity for their God to be above sex.
What will an asexual being do with gender?
This and another question on who created god have always intrigued me. The answers to both are evident, the story telling side of human beings.
ReplyDeleteBut if ever God's existence is proved (but how can you prove the evidence of absence?), it would definitely be a mathematician :)
True, god is a mathematical abstract.
DeleteGender? Even existence of god is questionable but if there is a god he/she must be gender-less
ReplyDeleteThe whole notion is interesting, isn't it?
DeleteGod has to be in some recognizable form for humans to comprehend....and they can hardly think beyond gender....in fact this homophobic world will scorn at the idea of God being a transgender unless there is some political leverage attached to it....
ReplyDeleteGod is like a human being because we created him in our own image. God is male because it is men who created him. He would have been a She if it was a matriarchal system. God would be transgender if transgenders created him. And, as Pranju said above, God would be some mathematical abstract if intellectuals created him. Finally, you are right: it's all about who wields power.
DeleteMan personified the concept of "god" for his own understanding and of the masses. Interestingly, the Shaivaites look at Divinity as the union of male and female, having both genders and meaningful as the union of both sexes (powers)
ReplyDeleteThat too is a god created in the image of man and hence has to manmade.
Delete