‘Is God Fat, Too?’ and ‘Does It Really Matter?’
July 18, 2009
While browsing the internet, I ran across this headline, “Is God fat too?” Well, of course I clicked on it, wouldn’t you?
Jim Evans, the author of the article, goes on to talk about how Christians that are fat aren’t really being Christians because they are fat. You might want to read that sentence again … take a moment …
And that being fat is against several passages from the Bible, for instance:
1 Corinthians 6:19-20: “… do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.”
Maybe I’m just missing something, but I don’t see anything in that quotation about how God hates fat people … maybe it’s just me. My body is a temple, but maybe my temple has more square feet than yours. I don’t really see the issue with that. I would think that if there is a God, that God would be accepting of everyone — doesn’t Christianity preach acceptance? Wouldn’t glorifying God with your body include eating the fruits of the earth? May it be in plenty or not?
“God created man in his own image, in the image of God created him; male and female created he them,” (Genesis 1:27) what then is the image of man – of male and female – that truly represents God? Has that image changed or has it always been the same?
And what does this matter? What if God has always been fat? What if he doesn’t even have a body? I’m not sure I’m understanding why this is even an issue. Isn’t God the same, whatever form he/she may take? If you are only a Christian because you think God looks exactly like you, then I think you have a lot more issues to address.
“With all due respect to what we believe to be the glory of the afterlife, we have a prior obligation here on earth, and it starts with taking care of our physical bodies out of respect for God.”
“Behavior and environment are the two greatest areas for the prevention and treatment of obesity, and we can control both.”
You can take care of your body and still be fat. Period. There are these things called genetics that have been known to play a part in the fatness of a person. There are also tons of other reasons, like disease, medications, etc. What if God wants some people to be fat? What about all the fat preachers, monks, etc. Are they just disobeying God? The pope isn’t the rail thin — maybe someone should let him know that God hates him.
The article was so completely ridiculous that I just had to share it with you. Feel free to vent your rage.
Entry Filed under: Fat. Tags: Christianity, Diet, Fat, Fat acceptance, Fat bias, Food, God, obesity, Plus Size, Religion, Women.
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1.
wriggles | July 18, 2009 at 11:15 am
So fatness now = blasphemy, as well as ‘unhealthy’ (secular blasphemy).
Is there any originality of thought amongst the fatphobes?
2.
buttercup | July 18, 2009 at 1:13 pm
Wow. That is crazy. Especially considering all the self-hatred and harm people put themselves through in the misguided pursuit of thinness.
3.
Jen | July 18, 2009 at 1:40 pm
“My body is a temple, but maybe my temple has more square feet than yours.”
This made me smile and nearly laugh out loud. I’ve never thought of it this way before, and I’m a big fan of the idea of body as temple for the soul. I’m an average sized woman (I wear a 14) but I’ve been convinced that I’m fat and therefore ugly/unhealthy/undesirable for years. However, I do what I can to take care of my temple, no matter how many square feet it has!
Thankyou.
4.
Meems | July 18, 2009 at 2:08 pm
How ridiculous. His assumption that fat people aren’t taking care of their bodies comes from an assumption that he personally knows the image of God. This assumption in and of itself is anti-Christian in my eyes because humans cannot know the face (and presumably body) of God. We are not capable of this knowledge.
Then again, I’m a Jew, so what do I know about the Christian Bible?
5.
LivingTheQuestions | July 18, 2009 at 3:09 pm
Well, I just commented on that atrocious article, but sadly did so BEFORE finding out more than the author. He’s apparently a former body builder, and his articles for the examiner are full of obesity crisis booga booga booga. Still, at least I wrote what was on my mind, which is that is theology is incredibly poor, and (obviously) his science too simplistic. I can’t decide whether I should keep commenting on things like that, so that a wider range of voices are heard, or whether I should save my breath for times when I’m more likely to be effective.
6.
Twistie | July 18, 2009 at 5:05 pm
If God can be male and female, black, white, brown, tall, short, right or left-handed and ambidextrous, why can’t God be both fat and thin, too?
This reeks to me of the Medieval attitude that the outer facade is a clear indication of the spiritual state of the internal person. You know, the sort of thinking that made people assume that things like warts and moles and club feet were signs of the Devil’s influence over the person’s soul.
I was really hoping we were finally tossing that kind of thinking into a mental dumpster.
7.
Caitlin | July 18, 2009 at 6:52 pm
Also, and I “only” had 14 years of hardcore Catholic schooling so maybe I’m wrong here, but I am PRETTY FUCKING SURE that god, whatever he/she may look like, would be ABSOLUTELY HORRIFIED at the idea that I had a spare, say 14 hours a week (assuming I would need to work out for about 2 hours a day to hit a “healthy” weight) and instead of choosing to spend any of it feeding the hungry, healing the sick, or speaking for those who have no voice, I spent it all IN THE GYM and thought that THAT would be DOING WHAT GOD WANTED. What the fucking Jesus fuck. Times Jesus mentions fat or weight: zero. Times he mentions setting aside your own worldy concerns and judgements and focussing on prayer, good works, loving one another and helping the least of his brethren: OH, A WHOLE BUNCH.
This is just deluded judgemental narcissism masquerading as religion. Don’t you dare tell me God gives a shit what my waist size is. Don’t you dare.
8.
Bree | July 18, 2009 at 7:26 pm
If Jim Evans has a personal link with God, then he should know there aren’t any scales or Nutrisystem in heaven.
9.
Cleric at Large | July 18, 2009 at 7:36 pm
I have a special hatred for the use of that passage from Corinthians to make an anti-fat argument. It is just so very much NOT what Paul was talking about.
‘Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food’, and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is meant not for fornication but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. And God raised the Lord and will also raise us by his power. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Should I therefore take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! Do you not know that whoever is united to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For it is said, ‘The two shall be one flesh.’ But anyone united to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. Shun fornication! Every sin that a person commits is outside the body; but the fornicator sins against the body itself. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you were bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body.
See how that is NOT AT ALL about being thin? Not even ONE LITTLE TEENY TINY BIT?
Now, if you’d like to talk to me about how this is relevant to what I eat- that this is connected with choosing foods that result in less impact on the planet, or less cruelty to animals, or less participation in a market that values growing to voracious western markets over growing indiginous crops or feeding indiginous populations… I’m open to that conversation.
What it patently isn’t about? Is making an idol over a particular body shape, and sacrificing time, effort, energy, and health at the feel of that idol.
Um. But I have an actual sermon to write now, and should stop ranting.
10.
baconsmom | July 18, 2009 at 8:54 pm
So where does that leave people with disabilities? Children who are born with, say, cleft lips or something? Did they do something wrong in utero? What about people with developmental delays?
Twistie’s right: this is completely ridiculous medieval thinking. As a Christian (RC), I’m insulted that anyone would think God judges us only by our appearances – or that God would find it acceptable to do so in His name.
11.
PurpleGirl | July 18, 2009 at 9:39 pm
The assumptions and hatred underlying this article aren’t funny at all; bu the fact that the question would even enter this idiots mind? Hilarious.
12.
shiloh | July 18, 2009 at 10:41 pm
The Bible makes it pretty clear that God is Spirit, so however humans bear his image it isn’t in reflecting his body shape.
This author seems to have missed the verses that say stuff like “the righteous… shall be fat and flourishing” (Psalm 92). There are verses that scold fat people, too, but they’re about indulging in God’s blessings to the point of ignoring the poor. Either way, fat in the Bible is symbolic of blessing. not seen as a bad thing per se.
13.
Kitty | July 18, 2009 at 11:37 pm
God loves everyone and regardless of our size. He just wants us to take care of ourselves. He doesn’t judge His children by the size of their waits, but the size of their hearts.
This is a verse that I think sums it all up:
” 26You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, 27for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”- Galatians 3:26-29
14.
Adrienne Lowe | July 19, 2009 at 12:00 am
Nice post!
15.
saucytemptress | July 19, 2009 at 12:12 am
Well, I was pretty sure I was going to hell anyway, but now I know I’m headed there for sure!
16.
Erin | July 19, 2009 at 1:13 pm
The Christian belief is to treat your body as the temple of God, therefore take care of it. Your body is indeed a temple, one of God’s greatest gifts to you. However, many people choose to abuse their bodies, and not just through poor diet. That is merely one of the examples. The Bible has also given outlines on diet and nutrition, such as clean and unclean foods.
No, you cannot take every single thing every person says to heart. Everyone has a different view and opinion.
That’s what the Bible is for, for you to study/learn from, not just listen to what another is preaching to you.
And God has given humans free will to make their own decisions, including regarding their health and lives.
But when you need the guidance and grace of the Lord, He’s always there for you.
17.
Meems | July 19, 2009 at 7:40 pm
Two things Erin. I can’t tell entirely if you’re truly defending the article, but the problem in my mind is the assumption that physical fatness is a symptom of not taking care of yourself. There are plenty of people who are healthy, active, and still fat. Additionally, I do sometimes wonder why, if the Bible (by which I assume you include the Old Testament) tells us how to eat, do most Christians not keep kosher?
18.
Rachel | July 20, 2009 at 2:10 pm
My body is a temple, but maybe my temple has more square feet than yours.
Bwahahahaha! This made me laugh
I think religious-based diets are especially heinous because they exploit one of the most sacred beliefs people have: their idea of god and the afterlife. If you don’t lose weight or if you regain it like the great majority of dieters, you’re led to believe that you’re just not spiritual enough. And besides, don’t these people think that god would rather you be out helping those in need than obsessing about the size of your thighs?
This kind of bastardization and appropriation of religion to advance an earthly agenda is one of the primary reasons this former Christian is now a Buddhist atheist.
19.
Rachel | July 20, 2009 at 2:16 pm
…I do sometimes wonder why, if the Bible (by which I assume you include the Old Testament) tells us how to eat, do most Christians not keep kosher?
If Christians truly wanted to follow Biblical teachings, they’d be vegetarian. Both Adam and Eve were vegetarian before the Fall and only after they were banned from the Garden of Eden did they begin to eat everything lower than them on the food chain. The Bible doesn’t even mention meat-eating until Noah and the Great Flood and only then it gives very strict dietary rules for meat that we now know as kosher. But I find that in general, most Christian denominations tend to pick and choose what Biblical tenets they want to follow and those they don’t.