The Straight Dope: Did God have a wife, and if so where’d she go?

[View this message as a web page]( [The Straight Dope]( 06/23/2017 Dear Cecil: I saw a British documentary that stated that God — the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim God, that is — used to have a female companion, but then male dominance made it impossible to imagine such a powerful female being, and goddesses were no longer worshipped. Did this really happen? — Amalie Cecil replies: Before the Israelite god Yahweh really made it big, a bevy of other deities shared the stage with him, among them a fertility goddess named Asherah. So says theologian Francesca Stavrakopoulou, host of the 2011 BBC series you evidently saw, called Bible's Buried Secrets. And that much is largely accepted by historians. Nor is Stavrakopoulou alone in claiming that Yahweh (in some form) and Asherah were at one point an item, worshipped side by side, though this is a matter of more contention. But I don’t see where she suggests that the goddess’s disappearance was the result of a male-centric power play, or some resulting failure of imagination — as far as we can know, Asherah may have been just another victim of the messy shift to monotheism. For more, see: [( STRAIGHT DOPE STAFF REPORT — 05/07/1999 Dear Straight Dope: Is antidisestablishmentarianism really a word? If it is, what does it mean and is it the longest word? Just asking. — Otis SDStaff Dogster and SDStaff Ian reply: Otis, you caught us on a good day when we'm not going to chide you for not looking the dang word up yourself in that magical tome known as a dictionary. Instead, we'll get out our truss and pick up the Oxford English Dictionary. Turning to page 59, we find that antidisestablishmentarianism is indeed a word. The definition is as follows: "Properly, opposition to the disestablishment of the Church of England, but popularly cited as an example of a long word." Catching the irony here? For more, see: [( STRAIGHT DOPE CLASSIC — 06/09/2000 Dear Cecil: Some people believe that wearing a tinfoil helmet will protect them from mind control rays (or other forms of secret coercion). But if their intent is to create a "Faraday cage" to protect the brain from intrusive electromagnetic rays, wouldn't it be more effective to use something a little more solid — say, an infantry helmet? And even then, wouldn't it have to be grounded to work? Admittedly, looking for logical consistency in a conspiracy theory isn't the wisest thing in the world, but usually they have a semblance of internal coherence. — L. Hammer, Tucson, Arizona Cecil replies: A lot of people probably think helmets to ward off mind control rays were invented by some smart-ass having a little fun with the feebs. Uh-uh. Check out the detailed instructions for creating your own helmet (using metal window-screen mesh) ... For more, see: [( YOUR AD HERE! Your direct line to thousands of the smartest, hippest people on the planet, plus a few total dipsticks. For rates and details contact Rich at [rhummel@suntimes.com](. Copyright © 2017 Sun-Times Media, LLC. This email was sent by The Straight Dope, Sun-Times Media, LLC., 350 N. Orleans, 10th Floor, Chicago, IL 60654 [Unsubscribe/update preferences]( This email was sent to {EMAIL}. To change or update your newsletter subscription preferences, or to unsubscribe from all Chicago Reader and Straight Dope newsletters and promotional communications, [click here](. Please allow 72 hours for this change to take effect.