God as Spirit

I think the view of God as either male or female is problematic because in viewing God as one sex, the opposite is automatically degraded. I believe that God should be viewed as a spirit that embodies qualities of both male and female equally.

I believe it is problematic to view God as male. I believe this is an issue because in doing so, women feel less connected with the divine than males. This is true because if males are associated with the divine then women are linked with the Earth (as mentioned in “Womanspirit Rising”), and although in today’s society the Earth is not viewed necessarily as bad, it is viewed as something that is flawed and in need of taming. If women are more connected with the Earth, this leaves the necessity that women also need to be tamed, and who else would do this other than men who are joined with the notion of the divine? I also believe viewing God as male is not beneficial for humans because when we assign a sex to something, we automatically view this as having human qualities. When we view God as having human qualities, we think of God as being in a particular space (heaven) in a particular time (now). I believe this gives the impression to many that God created this Earth and then left it and if we want to find God, we have to go through Churches, while failing to recognize that God is still present on this Earth and can be found in everyday life.

I believe it is more beneficial that we view God as a spirit possessing both male and female qualities equally. This is positive for humans because not one sex is emphasized while the other in ignored and when people think of “spirit” the usual image is of something that is more fluid and flexible, able to be anywhere, anytime, in anything whereas humans are viewed as occupying only a body. When we adopt this view of God, the divine becomes present in everything, everywhere, and in everyone. God is no longer only located in Heaven which is a “place” we know little about. This does not mean that heaven does not exist, it just simply means that God is not to be found only there.

On the debate if God should be viewed as male or female, I think it is important to remember that humans are considered most complete, at least in my Church and in many others I have attended, when they are linked together either in a relationship or marriage by sex or intimacy. Since humans are considered by some, including myself, to be most complete when joined with another, this makes me believe that a more complete view of God is to think of the divine as embodying both maleness and femaleness, but not only one or more of one than another.