alt@duke.UUCP (Larry L. Taylor) (08/19/84)
The recent discussion concerning the gender of God has gen- erated some insights from this relative newcomer to net.religion. The religious impulse is or should be a venture inward. A univer- sal theology is impossible but a universal experience is both possible and necessary. For most of us an experience of the numinous is only possible by delving into the unconscious. Holy texts are useful maps and guides of the inner kingdom, but the journey must actually , not vicariously, be undertaken. The ad- venture of your favorite hero into the realm of the divine while instructive will never substitute for your own. The unconscious is populated by both the divine and the demon- ic. The reconciliation of these opposites is one of our major spiritual tasks. The unconscious of most men is feminine in its basic nature. In our present culture this feminine unconscious is suppressed by the male- dominant ego to a large degree. This un- lived female shadow almost always turns destructive due to negli- gence if nothing else. It is not very difficult to see anima- dominated behavior in men. The usual symptom is a moody "bitchi- ness". The anima-poisoned moods of men are particularly disrup- tive in their relationships with women. One fortunate side effect of the recent effort of women to in- troduce more feminine content into the church will be that men will more easily be able to come to grips with their anima. The recent unveiling in New York of a female crucifix was met with the expected cries of blasphemy from the more dogmatic and literal minded in the religious community. Feminine symbols of this type hold far more benefit for anima-bedeviled men than the activist women who are thrusting them into the church. While the motives of feminists in lobbying for more gender neutral scrip- ture may be suspect, the net result may tip the scales back to a more equitable balance of male and female symbols in both our outer and inner devotional lives. Larry Taylor (alt@dukevax) Duke Biophysipedic