(OPINION) In the bizarre world of transgender debates, pronouns are taking a central role. This debate over pronouns was introduced into the realm of Biblical study by Mark Silk, a Professor of Religion in Public Life at Trinity College last week.
In an article in Religion, News Silk suggested that the plural “they” should be used to describe God. Silk began by citing a New York Times article written by linguistics professor John McWhorter who advocated using the plural pronoun as an “all-purpose third-person-singular pronoun.”
McWhorter’s suggestion was intended for use as a solution in settings in which neutering pronouns was required by politically correct social pressure. Silk suggested that applying this rule to references to God was preferable for the same social reason.
“In contrast to human beings, it has long been accepted that God is not gendered, at least within the main Abrahamic theological tradition,” Silk wrote. “A phrase such as “God the Father” should be treated as a metaphor — and for those concerned about the embedded misogyny of the tradition,
to say nothing of post-binary folks — a deeply problematic one. “As a result, we have been faced liturgically as well as theologically with the imperative of gender-neutral language, which means being obliged to repeat the word “God” where a gendered pronoun would normally be used and to have recourse to the unattractive neologism “Godself” lest, God forbid, we find ourselves saying Himself.” READ MORE
