# When I say "God," do you picture a man or a woman or something else? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 7, 2012, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-i-say-god-do-you-picture-a-man-or-a-woman-or-something-else/615075 "2012-03-07T22:28:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![smaje1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47774/32.png) [@smaje1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smaje1)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-i-say-god-do-you-picture-a-man-or-a-woman-or-something-else/615075/1 "2012-03-07T22:28:05Z")
I totally picture God as depicted on “The Simpsons.” But as I no longer believe in a Christian God, I feel like I should train myself to picture some nebulous, asexual being-thingy. What image comes to mind when you hear the word “God”? ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-i-say-god-do-you-picture-a-man-or-a-woman-or-something-else/615075/2 "2012-03-07T22:54:25Z")
If you just mention God, I don’t really have a mental picture, and I know full well that God doesn’t really “look like” anything. But if a picture of God _has_ to spring to mind, it’ll probably be [God as he appeared in _The Far Side_](http://kansas-railroad-job-insurance.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Far-Side-God-game-show.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![Kozmik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8dc957/32.png) [@Kozmik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kozmik)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-i-say-god-do-you-picture-a-man-or-a-woman-or-something-else/615075/3 "2012-03-07T22:55:44Z")
> [@smaje1](#): > > I totally picture God as depicted on “The Simpsons.”? With five fingers? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Illuminatiprimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/illuminatiprimus/32/11520_2.png) [@Illuminatiprimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Illuminatiprimus)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-i-say-god-do-you-picture-a-man-or-a-woman-or-something-else/615075/4 "2012-03-07T22:59:47Z")
I don’t picture a person at all - if you were to talk about God I just imagine a sort of nebulous sphere of energy, but not a literal one, rather the sort of philosopher’s prime mover and the universe emanating from it. There’s a limit to what the human mind can do when thinking about concepts like God because we can’t relate to a lot of the characteristics it’s supposed to have. I’m also willing to go out on a limb and say it’s difficult to imagine things that don’t exist, but that’s not attempting to be snarky so much as stating the obvious (even if you have faith that God does exist you still won’t have encountered it or had any proof of it, so you have nothing to base your image on). ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-i-say-god-do-you-picture-a-man-or-a-woman-or-something-else/615075/5 "2012-03-07T23:12:57Z")
There really isn’t an image. It like "what image springs to mind when you say “freedom” or “peace.” There isn’t an image related to abstract concepts in my mind. If you ask me to think of an image to represent freedom or peace or God, I can. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-i-say-god-do-you-picture-a-man-or-a-woman-or-something-else/615075/6 "2012-03-07T23:30:51Z")
> [@smaje1](#): > > What image comes to mind when you hear the word “God”? How could God be humanoid, of any kind of animal, for that matter? That would contradict the fundamental concept. ---
**Author:** ![Apollyon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/apollyon/32/4238_2.png) [@Apollyon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apollyon)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-i-say-god-do-you-picture-a-man-or-a-woman-or-something-else/615075/7 "2012-03-07T23:40:33Z")
> [@guizot](#): > > How could God be humanoid, of any kind of animal, for that matter? That would contradict the fundamental concept. Going by the bible at least wouldn’t the whole “made in his image” thing strongly suggest in favour of humanoid? But to the OP anyway, if you were to say “god” – with no other qualifiers – and with me knowing this board to be heavily US-centric (though I don’t know if you’re from the US) – then I’d be picturing the chap on the [ceiling of the Sistine Chapel](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sistine_Chapel_ceiling). ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-i-say-god-do-you-picture-a-man-or-a-woman-or-something-else/615075/8 "2012-03-07T23:46:47Z")
I picture a giant penis. ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-i-say-god-do-you-picture-a-man-or-a-woman-or-something-else/615075/9 "2012-03-07T23:49:57Z")
I was raised to picture the old fella with the long gray beard. Since I know longer believe in the Christian God, when I consider the possibility that there might be something rather than nothing, it’s sort of a mist or a light fog type thing. ---
**Author:** ![ataraxy22](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ataraxy22/32/307_2.png) [@ataraxy22](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ataraxy22)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-i-say-god-do-you-picture-a-man-or-a-woman-or-something-else/615075/10 "2012-03-07T23:52:06Z")
I imagine a backwards dog. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-i-say-god-do-you-picture-a-man-or-a-woman-or-something-else/615075/11 "2012-03-07T23:55:08Z")
The image I get in my mind is the Sistine Chapel God. No, I don’t believe he exists but that’s the image I get. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2012, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-i-say-god-do-you-picture-a-man-or-a-woman-or-something-else/615075/12 "2012-03-08T00:10:41Z")
Just last night, I shit you not, I had a dream where God was a bounding box. Just a big shimmering dotted line rectangle drug around the entirety of reality. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2012, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-i-say-god-do-you-picture-a-man-or-a-woman-or-something-else/615075/13 "2012-03-08T00:15:11Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > If you just mention God, I don’t really have a mental picture, and I know full well that God doesn’t really “look like” anything. But if a picture of God _has_ to spring to mind, it’ll probably be [God as he appeared in _The Far Side_](http://kansas-railroad-job-insurance.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Far-Side-God-game-show.jpg). That’s pretty much how I see it. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2012, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-i-say-god-do-you-picture-a-man-or-a-woman-or-something-else/615075/14 "2012-03-08T00:18:11Z")
I picture George Bluth, Sr dressed as God for the living painting in _Arrested Development_. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2012, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-i-say-god-do-you-picture-a-man-or-a-woman-or-something-else/615075/15 "2012-03-08T00:35:04Z")
Old guy, white beard, stern expression, really big, kind of see-through. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2012, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-i-say-god-do-you-picture-a-man-or-a-woman-or-something-else/615075/16 "2012-03-08T00:40:51Z")
Sort of like the sun at noonday. Sort of. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2012, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-i-say-god-do-you-picture-a-man-or-a-woman-or-something-else/615075/17 "2012-03-08T00:42:04Z")
Giant cartoon foot. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Man\_With\_The\_Golden\_Gun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dc4da7/32.png) [@The\_Man\_With\_The\_Golden\_Gun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Man_With_The_Golden_Gun)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2012, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-i-say-god-do-you-picture-a-man-or-a-woman-or-something-else/615075/18 "2012-03-08T00:45:43Z")
The faceless God featured at the end of most Jack Chick tracts. Why, I really don’t know. I’m an atheist, but that’s just the first idea that comes to mind. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2012, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-i-say-god-do-you-picture-a-man-or-a-woman-or-something-else/615075/19 "2012-03-08T01:27:44Z")
Morgan Freeman or Dumbledore. ---
**Author:** ![Docta\_G](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/2bfe46/32.png) [@Docta\_G](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Docta_G)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2012, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-i-say-god-do-you-picture-a-man-or-a-woman-or-something-else/615075/20 "2012-03-08T01:32:30Z")
I picture humanity crowded around the cosmic campfire, scared shitless and just as clueless. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-i-say-god-do-you-picture-a-man-or-a-woman-or-something-else/615075.md?page=2)