I couldn't help but ask. The answer I got is a little involved, but once stated seems incredibly obvious. I felt as if it was explained to me as one would explain the obvious to a small child. I had that feeling a lot, now that I think about it.

First of course one must consider the usual metaphysical disclaimer, that gender is not a quality that applies to the creator of the universe. One might as well ask for the flavor the sun, or the scent of a symphony.

However, considering the question in human terms as it relates to humans, one can find a meaningful answer. After all, we often apply gender labels to plainly asexual beings.

Leaving aside gender assignment to inanimate things like ships and hurricanes, what is the single determining criterion we apply to distinguish gender?

The answer, of course, is that we apply a female label to the organism that creates a new, independent organism. We even refer to "mother cells" in bacteria.

So what gender do we assign to the creator of the universe and all of the life that it contains? Doesn't it pretty much have to be female?

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vanamee@godsbeacon.com