Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Gender Balance in Spirituality



Hey readers, did you ever know someone who was never there for you? The person who made it abundantly clear you could never count on them for support? And then they wanted you to care about what happens in their life when the going gets rough for them? What is the proper way to handle such a person? My go-to solution is the Silent Treatment rather than reminding them how little they have cared about me ever, but this can’t be an uncommon problem so I’d be curious to know how other people handle it.

One issue I have noticed in religious debates is the Masculine versus the Feminine. For example, it never really bothered me that the Christian Trinity is God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit because I know God encompasses both masculine and feminine, and we have to refer to Him somehow so for whatever reason masculine became the default. This does not preclude the feminine. Liturgies that lift the mind to celestial things go beyond this debate, but lately there seems to be a lot of hyper-masculinity in Christianity, and it is starting to drive me crazy. In the past I always liked a balance, but now I feel myself being drawn to a more feminine spirituality to counteract the toxic masculinity. Neither machismo nor touchy-feely spirituality is really what we are called to, but lately I am drifting toward a nature-centered, fertility-driven, peace-loving, earthy spirituality to counterbalance all this “Church Militant,” androcentric stuff. I think this is something both sides have to be very careful about, maybe especially men because they always think what they prefer is the default rather than their own preferences. If they are not careful, they will drive away a lot of women, and when you’ve lost the women, you’ve lost the religion because nobody is passing it on to the next generation. As the ancient Hebrews correctly ascertained, you are the religion of your mother. So let me make this plea to keep Christianity well-balanced from a gender perspective, because frankly you are losing me right now.

Famous Hat


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