Think about it right, God gets to show off the magic in minority stuff like orangutans, seahorses, human knee joints, unusual little cosmic events, moon coronas, stuff like that. So of course he’s left handed, because that means creativity and zaniness [sarcasm]. So of course they’ll be left handed in my upcoming comic [not sarcasm].
And I’m sure the theoretical/philosophical designer of 200+ billion galaxies has a certain gender, that makes total sense … but then if you look at the Hebrew, God’s referred to constantly as genderless or male or female, plural, singular, mother, father … you name it. ((And let’s not start on old testament angels, suffice it to say the very idea will rip your face off as soon as you try and think about them.)) Anyway, the viewpoint that God is male puts this terrifyingly gigantic idea into a very small box, and also displays a very narrow reading-base for one’s theological research. A bit like saying God is all about punishing bad people – you’d have to exclusively read (and misunderstand) a very narrow part of the Old Testament for that to be your opinion. But that’s … just my opinion!
This isn’t a religious blog as such, but long term fans will have noticed I am weaving ideas of God into my comics – and we’ll see a bit of a cameo in the upcoming one too. Full disclosure: I do believe in God, even though I do realise that is not the most sensible of standpoints! It’s fascinating to me that for many people, God is something completely different:
- To some people, God is an authoritarian, rules-based, life-stealing, patriarchy-enabling old git;
- To some people, they are connecting love itself; a life-enabling, unstoppable force for freedom and good.
^ there’s quite the variation there.
Perhaps there is the God of the fundamentalists, which quite rightly should be beheaded by atheists – we need that God to be beheaded for that God is just a douchebag; a construction of the ego so often used for control, a religion of box-ticking and easy accusation, devoid of true mystery and … love! Ironic. So well done atheists; keep doing what you’re doing, keep dismantling that God. Keep rattling those reputational cages, I seem to remember that Christ character doing a similar thing 🙂
But what about the God of the mystics?! This is not a God who can be so easily dismantled … much more exciting! But even so … what is God?!
It occurred to me that that variation [fundamentalist vs. mystic] is the same confusion people have around Love. I saw a few episodes of First Dates recently, and they often interview the people before they go on their dates, and ask them “What is love?” – and the answers are fascinating. The younger men will often say “Love is … obsession?” – something along those lines. They observe that for some people who feel they have fallen in love, they become obsessed with the object of their desire, and QED … love is obsession.
What a freaking shame! That’s like saying relationship is about control, which for so many is sadly the truth.
Love is not obsession, unless you equate your lover with an object – in which case they become a project, just like restoring an old car. Infatuation or intimacy or whatever have really cool roots but there’s a fine line between discovering the joy of harmony and getting into that “I must not lose this thing, it’s MINE now, MY PRECIOUSSSSS …” … which would be bad, and we can all do this at all times. Love is so easily replaced by this consumer approach to relationships, in which we battle for the most convenient path, and the outcome is often very damaging.
And if love is not really about obsession nor being controlled … and if God is love … what is God?
And who are we?
Glad we cleared that one up. You’re welcome.
Next comic: ohb8 of 8, out by beginning of September I’d have thought. Check back 🙂
Here’s my wishlist in case anyone wants to get me anything 3D ish for upcoming comics 🙂
