Can we be 100% sure there is/isn't a God?

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Intervention does not preclude free will. An example from personal experience: I came to college wanting to become a lawyer, untill I felt a strong calling to go into Biology. I'm not sure why, but it was definately there. I don't HAVE to go into Biology, I can be a lawyer if I want. I just trust in the fact that God knows whats best for me and what is closest to his will.

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So what was so peculiar about this "calling" that you know, beyond any doubt, that it was supernatural?Did you hate studying science before that moment, but then woke up one day thinking it was the most fascinating thing in the world?

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Her?

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Wow, it is so interesting that the sexism in our language is so ingrained that to refer to any unknown entity as a "she" instead of a "he" not only is terribly noticable, but elicits an eyeroll.There is no standard gender-neutral pronoun, so for many years the male pronoun has been used to refer to both genders.Why wouldn't God be female, or at least be comprised of both genders?

Sure, why not?A friend has a small plaque hanging in her house which reads,"God is coming, and she is pissed!"

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There is a standard gender-neutral pronoun in English: He. The problem is that people don't use it in a gender-neutral fashion.

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LOL!!Thank you for the history of the words. That was interesting.However, if nobody uses it as neutral, then it isn't neutral.Language is formed much more by how people use words, not how the words are defined at a single point in time.

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Let's see, current English has 12 third-person pronouns:

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he, him, his, she, her, hers, it, its, they, them, their, and theirs.

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Some of these words are used in multiple instances, but other than "he," none of them cross genders. Instead, they cross cases. That is, "his" is used in cases where both "her" and "hers" would be used.

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I have seen and used "their, they , and theirs" used as a gender neutral pronoun.

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The point I am making is that the original claim of "the sexism in our language is so ingrained" is simply not true. The language isn't sexist.

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Of course it is.It doesn't matter what the original gender of the word "he" is if nearly everyone who speaks English understands it to be masculine and uses it that way.In addition, what about the use of the word "guys" to mean, "a group of people."It's not strange or uncommon to address a all-female group and say, "Hi guys." Of course, one can do the same to a mixed group or a group of all-males. But if one were to describe someone as a "guy", it is immediately understood that the person't gender is male.Also, what about the fact that the use of "Mister" makes no reference to the marital status of the male, yet "Mrs." and "Miss" indicate the marital status of the female. "Ms.", which does not indicate marital status, was only invented a few decades ago during the last wave of feminism.[This message has been edited by schrafinator, 05-05-2003]