Is it Reasonable to believe God is Transgender?

[Quintessence]

I understand your perspective, but consider the variety of gender identities recognized across different cultures and societies, and the fact that many people's gender identities don't align with their biological sex.

Given you're literally talking to one of those people, I reckon you don't understand my perspective here at all, actually.

I still quite strongly maintain that if humans did not have sexes, gender never would have been developed as a social construct because there'd have been no basis for it at all. But if you somehow think that an asexual species would create gender concepts for some reason, well... okay then. Not sure how that makes a lick of sense, but okay.

 

[Vouthon]

If the OP means that God "transcends" human biological categories of gender, then yes I'd agree.

But if they mean "trans" as in like a human transperson that was born with a neurotype that is at variance with their chromosomal and phenotypic sex at birth, and this person correspondingly identifies as/undergoes hormonal therapy and surgery to "transition" to the gender they innately identify as, then "no" because God is divine in essence and not human. God is not in essence male, female, intersex or trans. Even "gender non-binary" wouldn't fit as its a human label and limitation.

The Fourth Lateran Council in 1215 stated quite firmly: "there exists a certain Supreme Reality, incomprehensible and ineffable...eternal and immeasurable, almighty, unchangeable....absolutely simple essence...one principle of all things, creator of all things invisible and visible...This reality neither begets nor is begotten nor proceeds."

God is genderless in essence: the divine being does not 'beget' as men do in fathering children (save by analogy, as in the Christian theological 'image' of God the Father and Jesus the Son, which is not meant to be literally understood in a biological fashion) or get pregnant as mothers do, and this truism is strictly doctrinal, not only in Catholicism but in all forms of Abrahamic theism. Thus the Qur'an informs us, most succinctly and poetically, in Surah Al-Ikhlas: "Say, He is Allah, [who is] One, Allah, the Eternal Refuge. He neither begets nor is born, Nor is there to Him any equivalent."

You cannot compare God as It is in Itself to anything created, that is make an equivalence.

 

[ppp]

Given you're literally talking to one of those people, I reckon you don't understand my perspective here at all, actually.

Perhaps. But rather than simply asing, you reckon using your own presumptions.

Moreover, if I didn't think that the person I was addressiing was capable of grasping my perspective, then I wouldn't have addressed them in the first place.

I still quite strongly maintain that if humans did not have sexes

And yet you neither address my reasoning, nor present any reasoning of your own.

gender never would have been developed as a social construct because there'd have been no basis for it at all. But if you somehow think that an asexual species would create gender concepts for some reason, well... okay then. Not sure how that makes a lick of sense, but okay.

This may as well be, Nuh uh.

But as you always say... heuristics, bias, you do you.

 

[Quintessence]

@ppp - I didn't address your "reasoning" because it was befuddingly lacking, no offense intended.

"Without only one sex, gender roles around nuturing, agriculture, trade, conflict, etc would all still be niches to be filled."

Obviously, roles would still be needed. However, please explain to us how a species with a single sex, or no sex, would conceptualize any of these as "gender" roles instead of, you know, just ROLES. Blimey, even humans - many of whom are so obsessed with sex and gender it genuinely boggles the mind - can conceptualize these things as just ROLES and toss the gender bit out into the bin.

Gender is an inherently sex-based cultural construct. No sexes, no point to gender. Wouldn't have been developed in a species without two or more of them. That's just a common sensical conclusion. A no-sex or one-sex species just would've seen roles. There'd have been no sex to attach these roles to. Just roles. No gender.

A transcendent god doesn't have a physical body and doesn't have a sex, thus it also has no gender unless humans decide to anthropomorphize that god. Which they do sometimes for... reasons. The worshipers of that kind of god can fill in those blanks.

 

[ppp]

I didn't address your "reasoning" because it was befuddingly lacking, no offense intended.

It seems to my that your approach is to condescend and crap on those with whom you disagree. Perhaps others have different experiences. I don't really care. Please stop addressing me through either reply or tag. Thank you.

3. Trolling and Bullying
Where Rule 1 covers personal attacks, Rule 3 governs other behaviors and content that can generally be described as being a jerk. Unacceptable behaviors and content include:
1) Content (whether words or images) that most people would find needlessly offensive, especially when such content is posted just to get a rise out of somebody and/or is not part of a reasoned argument.

2) Defamation, slander, or misrepresentation of a member's beliefs/arguments, or that of a particular group, culture, or religion. This includes altering the words of another member to change their meaning when using the quote feature.

3) Antagonism, bullying, or harassment - including but not limited to personal attacks, slander, and misrepresentation - of a member across multiple content areas of the forums. Repeatedly targeting or harassing members of particular groups will also be considered bullying.

 

[lewisnotmiller]

The stories say that most greek gods and goddesses had affairs with men and women.

Ooof...that's not the easiest of rabbit holes to go down.

Zeus supposedly had sex with Leda whilst appearing as a swan.
Perhaps it was consensual and she was into bestiality. Perhaps it was forced and Zeus was a rapist. I dunno.
Then there was Europa (who he carried off whilst a bull).
Hera, who he slept with as a cuckoo. She was, of course his sister, so I'm unsure where we are landing on a description of that encounter.

Then there's Danae, and at some point you either assume it's all metaphorical, or that Zeus was the very embodiment of a try-sexual.

 

[lewisnotmiller]

If you're talking about the god of the Abrahamic monotheist religions, that god doesn't have a corporeal body. Something without a corporeal body can't have a sex to begin with, so the concept is not applicable.

Seems fitting to this polytheist, whose gods are the stuff of the universe, the overwhelming majority of which doesn't have a sex either.

You have to admit, trinitarian beliefs do mean that God had a penis in one sense.
And a circumcised one at that.

 

[Quintessence]

It seems to my that your approach is to condescend and crap on those with whom you disagree. Perhaps others have different experiences. I don't really care. Please stop addressing me through either reply or tag. Thank you.

3. Trolling and Bullying
Where Rule 1 covers personal attacks, Rule 3 governs other behaviors and content that can generally be described as being a jerk. Unacceptable behaviors and content include:
1) Content (whether words or images) that most people would find needlessly offensive, especially when such content is posted just to get a rise out of somebody and/or is not part of a reasoned argument.

2) Defamation, slander, or misrepresentation of a member's beliefs/arguments, or that of a particular group, culture, or religion. This includes altering the words of another member to change their meaning when using the quote feature.

3) Antagonism, bullying, or harassment - including but not limited to personal attacks, slander, and misrepresentation - of a member across multiple content areas of the forums. Repeatedly targeting or harassing members of particular groups will also be considered bullying.

If you feel anyone has broken the rules, including a former admin, utilize the report button. I'm well aware my sensitivity about sex and gender issues can get the better of me at times, and if I've crossed any lines, my content is subject to removal as much as anyone else's is. I'm honestly a bit confused by your response, but if you prefer, I will add you to my ignore list permanently.

 

[ChristineM]

Zeus supposedly had sex with Leda whilst appearing as a swan.

Also with Ganymede, a male. Greek legends are an eye opener for sure

 

[SomeRandom]

I suppose it can depend on the tradition.

But I would think a divine being is above such human concepts

That said, having grown up Hindu, there are quite a few stories of God manifesting as male and female and even switching at will.
So I grew up with presentations of the divine as literally both female and male (and I mean that such a depiction was in the same frame. One half female, the other male.)
So to me, the concept of god even having a gender or sex never really occurred to me. A supreme being is supposed to be above all that, after all. Or you would think anyway.

But that’s just my household. Your mileage may vary

 

[wellwisher]

What do believers have to say about this?

I would say no, since this fad is a Lefty construct, used to create and solicit campaign donations from the medical community for shady Democrats politicians. Left in latin is the word sinister. This appears to be more about a money grab since full transitioning is not cheap, and if they could forced it on the tax payer, it could be a very lucrative medical specialty used for Democrat party campaign skim. The COVID fund got ripped off $200B.

The latter seems more teamed up with the other side of the spirit world; Satan, the master of Lies and illusions. If you asked if it is Satanic, you might be onto something. Liberals hate God, so why would they represent anything is his image, since they have worked so hard for decade to censor religion? Satan would make more sense, based on the past 40 years of effort and behavior.

There is a term connected to God; unity of the Holy Spirit, with transgender not about the unity of humans. It is very divisive, like the nature of Satan and greed. It divides the country. Natural humans are still the majority of people, yet their rights are being ignored, in favor of pawns manipulated for power and greed.

When this all goes south; crap hits the fan, and the pain appears from this bonehead idea, Democrat heads will need to roll for the sake of victim justice. The DNC should be liable to civil lawsuits in the $billions. It is well documented who is pushing this; arrogance, so the legal issues will be settled quickly and thoroughly. There are deep Lefty pockets in Universities, Teacher Unions, fake news media, the DNC and medical communities.

 

[Viker]

It's not unreasonable.

I would think any God worth their salt is beyond any confines of gender. Trans- as a prefix can imply 'on or to the other side of ', 'across' or even 'beyond'. How a deity represents it's self or is represented tells a lot about it's adherent, how they receive their deity.

 

[Brickjectivity]

What do believers have to say about this?

I suspect fear of being thought of as a girl is actually a fear of being turned into one. On a subconscious level there is little difference between these fears. Children want to know which is best, too. "What would it be like to be a girl?" "What would it be like to be a boy?" The fear of becoming something we don't understand is a fear that affects us deeply.

We can assume that there have always been intelligent and resourceful people down through History who have occasionally turned their minds towards this question about if God has a sex.

God is described as omni this and omni that, so I ask.

The only way that a trangender model of God is better is if we make the mistake of assigning God a sex. This is not what "God the Father" or "The Heavenly Father" means in Christianity. This term 'Father' refers to inheritance, not sex. Similarly 'Mother of God' is meant to represent something other than mothers. We start with the concrete things we can understand to attempt to teach the abstract and difficult lessons that make people think. There is no perfect model that we can use to study God, however. We are creatures, and God is not one.

But. God is omnipresent, and so God is everywhere which in a sense does make transgenders represent God in that sense.

 

[ppp]

@Quintessence I have asked you to not interact with me. While I am not reading your posts, I am unable to place you on ignore because of your role as management. Please stop.

 

[lewisnotmiller]

I would say no, since this fad is a Lefty construct, used to create and solicit campaign donations from the medical community for shady Democrats politicians. Left in latin is the word sinister. This appears to be more about a money grab since full transitioning is not cheap, and if they could forced it on the tax payer, it could be a very lucrative medical specialty used for Democrat party campaign skim. The COVID fund got ripped off $200B.

The latter seems more teamed up with the other side of the spirit world; Satan, the master of Lies and illusions. If you asked if it is Satanic, you might be onto something. Liberals hate God, so why would they represent anything is his image, since they have worked so hard for decade to censor religion? Satan would make more sense, based on the past 40 years of effort and behavior.

There is a term connected to God; unity of the Holy Spirit, with transgender not about the unity of humans. It is very divisive, like the nature of Satan and greed. It divides the country. Natural humans are still the majority of people, yet their rights are being ignored, in favor of pawns manipulated for power and greed.

When this all goes south; crap hits the fan, and the pain appears from this bonehead idea, Democrat heads will need to roll for the sake of victim justice. The DNC should be liable to civil lawsuits in the $billions. It is well documented who is pushing this; arrogance, so the legal issues will be settled quickly and thoroughly. There are deep Lefty pockets in Universities, Teacher Unions, fake news media, the DNC and medical communities.

Reading this led me to wonder...whilst God might not be transgender, are we now assuming he's American?!?!?!

 

[Orbit]

Trying to tie God into human categories is bizarre whatever the category.

Well, the Bible does say that man is created in God's image, so tell me---what does God look like?

 

[lukethethird]

Well, the Bible does say that man is created in God's image, so tell me---what does God look like?

Zeus.

 

[lukethethird]

God is sexless.

What would Mary say about that?

 

[IndigoChild5559]

What do believers have to say about this?

It is reasonable to say that God transcends gender.

But to say that God is transgender is a whole other issue. For someone to be transgender, they are born with the chromosomes and genitals of one sex, but their brains identify with the opposite sex. I don't think any of that sounds like God. Since he has no body, he has no chromosomes, no genitals, and no sexually dimorphic brain.

 

[ppp]

But to say that God is transgender is a whole other issue. For someone to be transgender, they are born with the chromosomes and genitals of one sex, but their brains identify with the opposite sex. I don't think any of that sounds like God. Since he has no body, he has no chromosomes, no genitals, and no sexually dimorphic brain.

As we have people where their chromosomal, gonadal, or anatomical sex is atypical, I don't think we can call sex dimorphic either. Still, I think your underlying thesis stands in that the standard Abrahamic god could not be considered either trans or cis as there is no physical form to trans or cis against. Perhaps it is better to say that God has nothing but gender.