Really great article and daring topic; religion is always tricky to talk about.
I love your binary analysis of God and how we associate rules, following structure and discipline with a man and how we associate care, nurturing and understanding with a woman.
I really appreciated how your depiction of God has changed since childhood. I use to always find it amazing how people feared God. I am Sikh, so I did not grow up being told fearful things that would send me to Hell, but I heard a lot about it through friends. It sounded horrifying. I use to always be so grateful that my religion was ‘relaxed’ and our God chose not to have a Hell.
I think this is such a great conversation, especially the change in vantage point from God looking for you to mess up, to God becoming someone who is supporting you in your journey.
I always find it fascinating when people tell me the restrictions in their life because of their religion. I always want to ask them, ‘If God wasn’t looking, would you break that rule?’ but I never will, I am not prepared for that debate.