Talk:She
Latest comment: 5 years ago by -sche in topic RFV discussion: April 2019
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I'm not challenging the word itself, but this part of the definition: "often used when referring to God". I don't think it's often used referring to God (for which He etc. are used), but rather to Mary, the Goddess of some pagan religions, possibly queens. --Waikaistai (talk) 01:30, 15 April 2019 (UTC)
- On the contrary, it is a reaction to the traditional but baseless assignment of the male gender to a supreme divine entity transcending human conceptions, as seen here, here and here. (Personally I think “It” is even better since no gender assignment is grounded in evidence.) We must also be careful not to introduce a bias by making a distinction between “pagan” and recognized (by whom?) religions. If a speaker’s intention is to refer to some Supreme Being, then it is not to us to demote this to a lesser godhead. What may be challenged is how often “often” is – in comparison to He and friends the actual uses are few and far between. --Lambiam 16:00, 15 April 2019 (UTC)
- But that's the point: it's not whether God should be often referred to with feminine pronouns, but whether God is often so referred to. The word "often" should just be removed, since it strikes me as wishful thinking. Chuck Entz (talk) 03:29, 16 April 2019 (UTC)
- "how often “often” is – in comparison to He" - and also how often "often" is in comparison of She refering to God compared to She refering to Mary, a pagan Goddess, queens. If "She" is usually used for Mary, a pagan Goddess and only rarely for God, then the wording has to be changed. --Waikaistai (talk) 21:54, 16 April 2019 (UTC)
- It strikes we should be neutral about frequency, because it's so hard for us to measure, and very context-dependent. As well hard to box; Sylvia Browne's discussion on Mother God in a very Christian perspective (that uses "She") doesn't fit into a neat box here.--Prosfilaes (talk) 01:13, 17 April 2019 (UTC)
- I've changed "often" to "sometimes" to try to remove connotations of frequency or infrequency. - -sche (discuss) 05:51, 17 April 2019 (UTC)
- But that's the point: it's not whether God should be often referred to with feminine pronouns, but whether God is often so referred to. The word "often" should just be removed, since it strikes me as wishful thinking. Chuck Entz (talk) 03:29, 16 April 2019 (UTC)