Considering Filianism/Deanism?

"If God is male, then male is God." -- Mary Daly

"Show me the God you worship and I'll show you who you are." -- Marcus Borg.



Goddess worship can feel like a panacea, maybe even an oasis in the middle of the desert of patriarchy. The world is a mess. Violence, wars, poverty, sex crimes, hate, discrimination, oppression. A lot of it, you're perhaps right, has been caused by the centuries of patriarchy. 

I was drawn to Goddess-ism around the time I was having an existential crisis. I was a student at an Evangelical Christian college. I transferred there a year earlier from a public community college because I thought, as a young Evangelical Christian, I was supposed to do God's will. It did not take long before a culture shock set in. As a 22-year-old transfer student, I couldn't adjust to an almost cult-like atmosphere of a small, close-knit Christian college with 17- and 18-year-old pastors' kids from rural towns. I developed severe depression. My father was angry at me for wasting too many years in "mediocre" colleges. I unplugged my phone because his nightly verbal abuse was getting old. My mother told me that he divorced her because he didn't like the way she raised me. 

As far as Christianity went, I was mentally out already. And I not only loathed my father but by then I feared him.

Such was the context in which I found feminist theology, and ultimately, Goddess worship. Actually, I didn't go all-in on a Goddess religion right away; I started with the "gender neutral" or "gender inclusive" language of God, something that was becoming increasingly common among the liberal religious. 

Yet, the very notion of God being "female" was such an intriguing concept to me, it represented my wishful thinking. Why not - patriarchal religion sucked and men sucked. I think this is a common sentiment among those who are drawn to a Goddess. 

Nonetheless, it is still wishful thinking based on flimsy evidence and, mostly, conjectures. 

There is an alarming lack of historical and archaeological evidence that supports the sort of "pre-patriarchal" universal worship of the supreme, cosmic Goddess as posited by many feminist theo(thea)logians, including the promoters of Filianism/Deanism. 

We the humans tend to create a god in our own images. The "Mother God/dess" made by cultural feminists (female supremacists) is no better than the "Father God" of traditional Christianity -- or for that matter, the "Nonbinary Queer God/de/xx" of queer theologians. No human language and philosophy can even remotely capture the fullness of God-ness. And human language, philosophy, and theology can become the idols we worship instead of the true God. 

It is kind of silly fighting over this, and as such I don't intend to proselytize or "deprogram" you here, but I encourage you to examine your heart and the path that led to Filianism/Deanism, and motives behind Goddess worship. If you are driven by anger, resentment, hatred, or misandry -- or maybe more likely by your past trauma -- address those first. Don't be like the Israelites in the wilderness forging a golden calf (a projection of their wishful thinking and trauma response).

Frankly, it is not a good idea to entrust your soul's well-being to some made-up religion you find on Tumblr and someone's anonymous blog. That's not going to equip you spiritually for the difficult days in your life when hardship strikes. Remember, Filianism/Deanism has a shorter history than Scientology. 


Peace,


SM