Martin, the reason why God is normally referred to as "He" in all those old holy books from the Middle East is because men were running EVERYTHING back then in the Middle East. Men were like little gods in that society. They made the Big God in their own image. Women were little more than baby-makers, slaves, and beasts of burden. They didn't write the books. :-) And that's the only reason for it. It's nothing to be proud of.

It's ridiculous to suppose that God is either male OR female, and even more ridiculous to speculate as to what kind of clothing God would wear! (As if God would need any clothing...!) But, hey, thanks for the laugh! :-) God is a Spirit. Spirit is not limited to one gender or the other.

If God is only masculine, then where did femininity come from, Martin?

(That oughta open a can of worms! Yowsa! I can't wait for the answer.)

Beats me how in the world an independent thinker like you, Martin...a guy who doesn't let other people intimidate him...can let a bunch of bearded, illiterate, primitive, and rather bloodthirsty sheepherders from 3,000 years ago do his thinking for him now in 2005!!!   I'd have figured you for a guy that makes up his own mind from actual experience, rather than relying on the most extraordinarily unlikely hearsay. Specially hearsay from 2,500 or more years ago.

Martin, ol' pal, I am convinced that if you had been born in a Muslim family, you'd be a devout Muslim right now...you might even belong to Hamas or something like that. And if you'd been born in a Hindu family, you'd be consulting the Baghavad Gita for the answers... :-) In the Hindu traditions, God is seen as inclusive of both male and female qualities. That indicates that Hindus are just a wee bit more aware than Middle Easterners used to be 2,500 years ago.

The fact that people are willing to automatically believe stuff that was written 2,500 years ago by someone they never met simply on the basis of faith proves that people are capable of believing anything...as long as it came from a source they regarded as "authoritative" in their particular family or culture. I think that you're an unconscious product of the culture you were born in, Martin...as are most people.

To become free in heart and mind is to think beyond the limits of the culture you were born in.