Tim Barnett applies the red pen to category mistakes made by someone claiming God is non-binary, queer, and autistic.
Transcript
Original video: God is non-binary. God is queer. God is autistic. Let me unpack that for you. God is non-binary because God is the author of gender. God is genderless and gender-full. They are neither male nor female, and they are both. They refer to themselves both as male and female throughout the text. And yet theology would tell us that God does not have gender. So, by definition, God is non-binary. God is queer because, like gender, God is the author of all sexualities. All sexualities exist in God. And yet God is not explicitly sexual. And since asexuality is part of the LGBTQ spectrum, we can say God is queer. And finally, God is autistic because autism is a divergence from typical neurology. And since no being in existence has a mind like the mind of God, God is by definition neurodivergent. And as an autistic person, I like to say God is autistic. God always identifies with—and as—the most marginalized people in society.
Tim: When my oldest daughter was three years old, I asked her, “What does the color blue smell like?” After pausing to think about it, she said, “Blueberries.” Of course, this was a trick question, because blue doesn’t have a smell. This is a category mistake. A category mistake occurs when qualities are attributed to a thing that the thing can’t possibly possess. In this case, the color blue isn’t the kind of thing that has a smell.
This video makes three—yes, three—category mistakes. Actually, it’s one category mistake expressed three different ways. Let me show you.
First, the video claims God is non-binary. Notice it tries to apply the language of gender identity to God. But that’s a category mistake. It’s like saying the color blue isn’t male or female, therefore the color blue is non-binary. You see a problem? The confusion here comes from thinking God is like us. Human beings are gendered, physical beings. But God isn’t like that. God is an ungendered, spiritual being. And that point is key. Unlike human beings, God is not the kind of being where gender categories apply. That’s because, unlike humans, God isn’t embodied. God is spirit.
Second, this video claims God is queer. This tries to apply the language of sexual orientation to God. But again, that’s a category mistake. Sexuality applies to beings with physical bodies. God is not the kind of being where sexual categories apply. So, using terms like “asexual” in the LGBTQIA+ sense is completely inappropriate.
Third, this video claims God is autistic because autism is a divergence from typical neurology. Ironically, that’s precisely why God can’t be autistic. According to the Mayo Clinic, autism relates to brain development. But God doesn’t have a physical brain. God is immaterial. You see a problem?
So, God can’t be non-binary or queer or autistic for the same reasons God can’t be colorblind or left-handed or balding. Those categories don’t apply. Notice, once we properly understand what God is like, each category mistake becomes clear.