God is non-binary
And that scares the Bejesus out of a lot of people. Thus, they can’t ever really know God.
OK….well what do I mean by “God”. The biggest loaded question you can ask somebody is “Do you believe in God?”. It’s hard to answer that question accurately, or even at all, because we each typically have very different definitions of “God”. We certainly can’t tell without having a deep conversation with somebody first. For example, imagine this conversation.
Joe: “Do you believe in God?”
Mary: “Yes”
Joe: “So you do agree that there is an old man in the sky watching us?”
Mary: “No, I didn’t say that”
Joe: “Yes you did”
Mary: “No, I believe in some kind of spirit”
Joe: “That’s not God”
Mary: “Yes it is”
Joe: “No it isn’t. You’re going to hell for not believing”
Mary: “You mean, like where you’re living right now?”
Joe: “What are you talking about?”
Mary: “Hmmm, I gotta go, I have an urgent need to clean out the gunk between my toes, they started itching me.”
……you get the idea. A good comedy writer could work on some good dialog for that.
Most modern people probably think of “God” as something that is simply bigger than any one of us, and is some kind of spirit that perhaps thrives on love and cooperation — because to do otherwise would ultimately mean the destruction of the species and/or the growth of its civilization. Well in theory — that’s not true for sharks and many other creatures on the planet. I like to think it’s true for humans— well at least the ones that haven’t been brainwashed into hating people in order to feel important, like a hero. So to help clarify, let’s think of some definitions of God, and their probable gender.
The Old Man in the Sky: Male
Nature: Non-binary
Humanity: Non-binary (To most people I would hope)
Physics: Non-binary (aka Positive/Negative, North/South, Up/Down, etc.)
Your particular religion’s God and everybody else is going to Hell: Male (Mostly)
The Bible: Male
The humans that wrote the Bible: Male
Politics + Religion (the unholy alliance): Male (Females participate, but I’m asserting it’s a male dominance pattern).
Your biological parents: Non-binary
Your parents and family: It varies, but typically non-binary
Technology: Mostly Male (ew…..I work in Tech…well I’m willing to take their money)
Money: Non-binary
Music and strings: Non-binary
….and many more
I personally believe knowing there is something important and bigger than you (and the groups that you belong to), that we need to be in balance, and that one should seek a wide variety of experiences is what is most important. But we all have different experiences with Religion and God. My most significant experience was a spiritual quest to Jerusalem on several extended trips, which culminated in these nuggets of insight:
There are two types of Jews: Cool people and assholes
There are two types of Christians: Cool people and assholes
There are two types of Muslims: Cool people and assholes
Jerusalem is a great attractor for seekers. But it attracts all types. The most important lesson I learned: Always carry a good Bullshit Detector, to filter through the noise and find the nuggets.
I really don’t have any need to go back there anytime soon. And if do, it’s because they have great olives and a really great variety of ethnic Middle Eastern Food proudly served by a wide variety of people from different cultures— and that is heaven.
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Check out my fun and enlightening book: “Girl Shock! — I dressed a girl for Halloween and she took over my life” (Including some cool colored comics about my trip to the Holy Land at the beginning of this journey).
