{"id":2276,"date":"2009-07-14T11:46:00","date_gmt":"2009-07-14T11:46:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2009\/07\/gods-just-not-that-into-you\/"},"modified":"2009-07-14T11:46:00","modified_gmt":"2009-07-14T11:46:00","slug":"gods-just-not-that-into-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2009\/07\/gods-just-not-that-into-you.html","title":{"rendered":"God’s Just Not That Into You"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>
One of the in-flight movies on the way back from England was He\u2019s Just Not That Into You<\/a>. This post will mention a couple of points made in the course of the movie, and so if you\u2019re the sort of person who doesn\u2019t want to know even things that happen in the first minute of a movie before seeing it, then consider this a SPOILER ALERT. Nevertheless, this post is not a movie review but a theological reflection on some analogies between popular approaches to religion and points made in the movie about human relationships.\n

\"\"The movie begins with a girl being pushed and called names by a boy in a playground. The girl\u2019s mother explains to her that the boy must have done these things because he has a crush on her and likes her. This, it is suggested, is at the root of the attempt women sometimes make later in life to interpret a man\u2019s apparent lack of romantic interest, meanness and various things as meaning something other that appears to be the case when the words or actions are taken at face value.<\/p>\n

I found myself thinking about the ways in which we think in our youth (and often beyond our younger years) about God and our everyday experiences. If something happens to a religious believer that doesn\u2019t immediately make sense in term of being cared for by a loving and all-powerful God, ways are found to explain away the apparent contradiction. God is just testing you or allowing you to be tested. Satan is trying to trip you up because you love God, and\/or God loves you, so much. God is showing his great confidence in you because he won\u2019t put you through anything you can\u2019t handle.<\/p>\n

Is there not a profound similarity to the ways we sometimes seek less obvious but more comforting explanations for the behavior of a significant other?<\/p>\n

I propose the alternative explanation that \u201cGod just isn\u2019t that into you\u201d in a somewhat facetious, tongue-in-cheek manner. But in a sense that is what it can feel like<\/i> when one goes from thinking of God as an anthropomorphic heavenly \u2018significant other\u2019 to acknowledging that the universe and\/or God\u2019s plan for it may well not revolve around you. The idea that God is not compelling people with important business to nonetheless get in their cars and leave so that you will find a parking spot can be as troubling as the realization that another person\u2019s apparent lack of romantic is in fact what it appears to be, rather than merely an indication that the person hides his or her feelings well, or something else of that sort.<\/p>\n

God, as depicted in the Bible and many other religious texts, doesn\u2019t seem to hide his feelings. To echo a phrase from the movie, in most ancient religious thought \u2018if a god wants to make a covenant with you, he\u2019ll make that clear<\/a>\u2018. The Bible does not depict a hidden God but a God who reveals himself and often brings swift judgment on the enemies of his chosen ones. Our time, on the other hand, is one in which it is possible to seriously doubt whether any sort of deity exists. But the movie\u2019s message, like that of this blog entry, is not to deny that guys or gods exist, but to encourage us to think in a different, more mature manner about who or what they are and how to relate to them.<\/p>\n

Of course, at this point the analogy breaks down, since the movie seems to be advising an honest recognition of how men and women relate to one another so as to find someone who is<\/i> \u2018into you\u2019. When it comes to relating to God, however, the key is not only to recognize that the universe is not made so as to revolve around you or me (the ultimate Copernica paradigm shift), but also to recognize the pitfalls of applying the analogy of \u2018personal relationship\u2019 to God, and even more so of taking such a metaphor as a literal statement of fact.<\/p>\n

What do you think? Have you had experiences which led you to conclude that there is no God, or that God should not be thought of in overly personal terms, or that \u201che\u2019s just not that into you\u201d? <\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"<\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One of the in-flight movies on the way back from England was He\u2019s Just Not That Into You. This post will mention a couple of points made in the course of the movie, and so if you\u2019re the sort of person who doesn\u2019t want to know even things that happen in the first minute of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":136,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2276","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nGod's Just Not That Into You<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"One of the in-flight movies on the way back from England was He's Just Not That Into You. This post will mention a couple of points made in the course of\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2009\/07\/gods-just-not-that-into-you.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"God's Just Not That Into You\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"One of the in-flight movies on the way back from England was He's Just Not That Into You. This post will mention a couple of points made in the course of\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2009\/07\/gods-just-not-that-into-you.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Religion Prof: The Blog of James F. McGrath\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/religionprof\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2009-07-14T11:46:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/_BtqUSG7RCA0\/SlvPT5kLY0I\/AAAAAAAAAeM\/mPoc_oZqMSE\/s320\/hjntiy.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"James F. McGrath\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ReligionProf\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"James F. McGrath\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2009\/07\/gods-just-not-that-into-you.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2009\/07\/gods-just-not-that-into-you.html\",\"name\":\"God's Just Not That Into You\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2009-07-14T11:46:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2009-07-14T11:46:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#\/schema\/person\/78342576667b872e3d259c153ce4c5bf\"},\"description\":\"One of the in-flight movies on the way back from England was He's Just Not That Into You. This post will mention a couple of points made in the course of\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2009\/07\/gods-just-not-that-into-you.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2009\/07\/gods-just-not-that-into-you.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2009\/07\/gods-just-not-that-into-you.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"God’s Just Not That Into You\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/\",\"name\":\"Religion Prof: The Blog of James F. McGrath\",\"description\":\"The Blog of Dr. James F. McGrath, Clarence L. Goodwin Chair in New Testament Language and Literature at Butler University, Indianapolis\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#\/schema\/person\/78342576667b872e3d259c153ce4c5bf\",\"name\":\"James F. McGrath\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/88ca096942acd474313f7ef4227a49da?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/88ca096942acd474313f7ef4227a49da?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"James F. McGrath\"},\"description\":\"Clarence L. Goodwin Chair in New Testament Language and Literature at Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. BD University of London, PhD Durham University. Author of John's Apologetic Christology, The Only True God, Theology and Science Fiction, and The Burial of Jesus, as well as (with Charles Haberl of Rutgers University) the two-volume Mandaean Book of John critical edition, translation, and commentary. Also author of numerous articles (and a few science fiction short stories) and the editor or co-editor of several volumes.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3Ge8ul5\",\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/religionprof\/\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/jamesfmcgrath\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/jfmcgrat\/\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ReligionProf\",\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/religionprof\",\"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/religionprof\",\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/James_F._McGrath\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/author\/james-f-mcgrath\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"God's Just Not That Into You","description":"One of the in-flight movies on the way back from England was He's Just Not That Into You. This post will mention a couple of points made in the course of","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2009\/07\/gods-just-not-that-into-you.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"God's Just Not That Into You","og_description":"One of the in-flight movies on the way back from England was He's Just Not That Into You. This post will mention a couple of points made in the course of","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2009\/07\/gods-just-not-that-into-you.html","og_site_name":"Religion Prof: The Blog of James F. McGrath","article_author":"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/religionprof\/","article_published_time":"2009-07-14T11:46:00+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/_BtqUSG7RCA0\/SlvPT5kLY0I\/AAAAAAAAAeM\/mPoc_oZqMSE\/s320\/hjntiy.jpg"}],"author":"James F. McGrath","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@ReligionProf","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"James F. McGrath","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2009\/07\/gods-just-not-that-into-you.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2009\/07\/gods-just-not-that-into-you.html","name":"God's Just Not That Into You","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#website"},"datePublished":"2009-07-14T11:46:00+00:00","dateModified":"2009-07-14T11:46:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#\/schema\/person\/78342576667b872e3d259c153ce4c5bf"},"description":"One of the in-flight movies on the way back from England was He's Just Not That Into You. This post will mention a couple of points made in the course of","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2009\/07\/gods-just-not-that-into-you.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2009\/07\/gods-just-not-that-into-you.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2009\/07\/gods-just-not-that-into-you.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"God’s Just Not That Into You"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/","name":"Religion Prof: The Blog of James F. McGrath","description":"The Blog of Dr. James F. McGrath, Clarence L. Goodwin Chair in New Testament Language and Literature at Butler University, Indianapolis","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#\/schema\/person\/78342576667b872e3d259c153ce4c5bf","name":"James F. McGrath","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/88ca096942acd474313f7ef4227a49da?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/88ca096942acd474313f7ef4227a49da?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"James F. McGrath"},"description":"Clarence L. Goodwin Chair in New Testament Language and Literature at Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. BD University of London, PhD Durham University. Author of John's Apologetic Christology, The Only True God, Theology and Science Fiction, and The Burial of Jesus, as well as (with Charles Haberl of Rutgers University) the two-volume Mandaean Book of John critical edition, translation, and commentary. Also author of numerous articles (and a few science fiction short stories) and the editor or co-editor of several volumes.","sameAs":["https:\/\/amzn.to\/3Ge8ul5","http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/religionprof\/","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/jamesfmcgrath\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/jfmcgrat\/","https:\/\/twitter.com\/ReligionProf","http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/religionprof","https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/religionprof","https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/James_F._McGrath"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/author\/james-f-mcgrath"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2276","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/136"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2276"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2276\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2276"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2276"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2276"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}