The Annoying Masculinity of Religious Language

The Annoying Masculinity of Religious Language

“There has been growing recognition that the religious language of the Judeo-Christian tradition is over-weighted with masculine symbolism. It took shape in an era of patriarchal domination, first in Hebraic and Jewish society, then in the Roman Empire. As women today become aware of their femininity as a major style of being human, they quite properly resent this. Male theologians have pointed out that masculine pronouns are used for God simply because some pronouns have to be used; the statement is annoying, if also reasonably correct.”

Where Did Christ Come From? From God and a Woman!

Where Did Christ Come From? From God and a Woman!

“‘Den dat little man in black dar, he say woman can’t have as much right as man ‘cause Christ wa’n’t a woman! Whar did your Christ come from?’ Rolling thunder could not have stilled that crowd as did those deep wonderful tones, as she stood there with outstretched arms and eyes of fire.”

The Holy Ghost Herself

The Holy Ghost Herself

“Suddenly she was there, the Holy Ghost herself, looking less like a soft breath than anything I have ever seen: a lightning flash of living love, she leaped straight to the center where she lit and spun in flaming red. Tall, with red hair and red shoes, a red and blue gown, every slim inch of her outlined in flame, I knew she had leapt straight from the heart of the sun, from God Himself, to pirouette before me. Every move was pure ecstasy.”

Liberation From the Expectations of Gender

Liberation From the Expectations of Gender

“Imagine a circle, and around that circle are the main colors of the rainbow. Like a rainbow, the colors do not have stark beginnings and endings, but blend into one another, the red slowly shifting to orange, orange to yellow, and so on until violet turns back to red. At the edges of this circle of colors, they are vibrant and bright, and towards the middle they blend together to get gray. Pink and blue are just two colors in this wide array, and male and female are just two genders in a wide range of possibilities. Perhaps I am a light green color, a gender the English language doesn’t have words for. I’ve met people on a wide spectrum of this rainbow.”

Male and Female Are Made One in Christ

Male and Female Are Made One in Christ

“We find many renowned women recorded in the Old Testament, who had received a talent of wisdom and spiritual understanding from the Lord. As good stewards thereof they improved and employed the same to the praise and glory of God … as male and female are made one in Christ Jesus, so women receive an office in the Truth as well as men. And they have a stewardship and must give account of their stewardship to their Lord, as well as the men. Therefore they ought to be faithful to God and valiant for his Truth upon the earth, so that they may receive the reward of righteousness.”

How Modern Quakers Challenge Traditional Gender Roles

How Modern Quakers Challenge Traditional Gender Roles

“A lot of people [are] saying, ‘Woah, hold up. This whole thing that we have going on in society is really violent.’ Whether it’s physically violent, but it’s emotionally violent. It’s violent towards us growing into who we can be, for men and women… that men have to be huge and they have to be strong all the time and they have to be loud and they have to be the leaders and they have to have all the responsibility. That is violence against men.”

Immeasurably Enriched by the Participation of Gender-Diverse Friends

Immeasurably Enriched by the Participation of Gender-Diverse Friends

“With this minute we affirm an understanding of spiritual equality and also affirm our growing understanding and respect for gender expression, identity, and sexuality. We acknowledge that we are still learning, but we recognize that when we embrace the full spectrum of gender and sexual identities in our Meeting and across our wider community, our worship deepens and our community is enriched. We seek to extend our loving care to all people. Our experience has been that Spiritual gifts are not distributed with regard to sexual orientation or gender identity and that the life of our Meeting and its work have been immeasurably enriched over the years by the full participation and Spirit-guided leadership of gender-diverse Friends. Our experience confirms that we are all equal before God.”

The Public Universal Friend

The Public Universal Friend

“In 1776, a young person in Rhode Island named Jemima Wilkinson took to their bed with a fever. They fell into a coma, and their family worried they would die. But then, one day, they opened their eyes and stood up. The fever was gone, and so was Jemima Wilkinson. In their place was someone new: a divine messenger sent by God, who was not a man or a woman. They told their family their name was the Public Universal Friend.”

Accepting Your True Self Strengthens Your Relationship with the Divine

Accepting Your True Self Strengthens Your Relationship with the Divine

“Spirit invites everyone to come to the Table of the Beloved Community. We are asked to participate as our authentic selves, with our wounds, and gifts, and imperfections. We were fed and challenged by the Spirit and each other as we wrestled with the reality that there are those who do not feel invited or feel they cannot bring their whole selves to the table.”

A Surgeon, Not a Band-Aid

A Surgeon, Not a Band-Aid

“When we make efforts to not cause conflicts within our congregations so as to diminish the pastoral benefits that religious community, ritual, and teaching can offer — under the fear that discussing likely contentious and challenging issues will create rifts in our communities — we risk simply offering a Band-Aid when what is actually required is a surgeon. We do not create rifts when we address the lived reality of our congregations; we simply uncover the rifts and conflicts which were already extant.”

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