The progressive left is leaving no stone unturned in its quest to erase female and male distinctions in society.
We've already seen this happen as women are being referred to as "pregnant people" or "people with periods," and similarly, men as "people with penises." On Capitol Hill, the Rules of the 117th Congress included changes to gendered language, striking words like "father," "mother," "son," "daughter," etc. And in academia, places like Stanford (though the university is not alone) developed guides attempting to change "harmful" language in technology at the school, which included a section taking aim at gendered words and expressions. According to the guide, "Guys," for example, should be replaced with "people," "everyone," or "folks." While words like "mailman," "landlord," and "manmade" couldn't stand either.
Now, in one church, The Lord's Prayer could soon be passé as the push toward gender-neutral language goes beyond the ivory towers, government buildings, and healthcare systems.
This Spring, the Church of England will launch a commission on whether to stop referring to God as "He" – and according to the Right Rev. Dr. Michael Ipgrave, Bishop of Lichfield and vice-chair of the liturgical commission overseeing the issue, "exploring the use of gendered language in relation to God" has been a topic of discussion for years.
"After some dialogue between the two commissions in this area, a new joint project on gendered language will begin this spring," he said. "In common with other potential changes to authorized liturgical provision, changing the wording and number of authorized forms of absolution would require a full synodical process for approval."
The plan became known when a written question to the Liturgical Commission emerged. That Liturgical Commission was meeting this week during the General Synod.
The question was from Rev Joanna Stobart, from Bath and Wells, who asked "what steps were being taken to offer congregants alternatives to referring to God with male pronouns and if there was any update 'to develop more inclusive language in our authorised liturgy,'" The Telegraph reports.
Stobart's ask for "inclusive language" was not all, she also asked bishops "to provide more options for those who wish to use authorised liturgy and speak of God in a non-gendered way, particularly in authorised absolutions where many of the prayers offered for use refer to God using male pronouns." (The Post Millennial)
Critics who note that gender-neutral language would abandon church teaching are up in arms over the debate.
"The fact that God is called 'Father' can't be substituted by 'Mother' without changing meaning, nor can it be gender-neutralized to 'Parent' without loss of meaning," Rev. Dr. Ian Paul told the Telegraph. "Fathers and mothers are not interchangeable but relate to their offspring in different ways."
Even TalkTV's Julia Hartley-Brewer, who called herself a "staunch fundamentalist atheist," called the notion "utterly bonkers."
The Church of England is considering alternatives to referring to God as “He” after priests asked to use gender-neutral terms.
— TalkTV (@TalkTV) February 8, 2023
Christian Concern's Tim Dieppe: "The Church has become so captured by woke ideology they don't realise where they've got to."@JuliaHB1 | @CConcern pic.twitter.com/iXjFBBOUAH