Throw The Hammer is a non-profit, non-affiliated organisation seeking to have explicitly male authority names removed from Western religious use. Such names include Lord, King, Father, etc. 

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The organisation intends to achieve this objective by using the precedent achieved by transpeople in changing the use of binary identity language. It will argue that having gender dominance in religious observance excludes a major portion of the population, and has done so for centuries. This is spiritual injustice. 

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On that charge, Throw The Hammer plans to create a campaign calling for change to religious language. It will ask both Jorge Mario Bergoglio, in his position as Pope Francis, the nominal head of the Roman Catholic Church; and Justin Welby, in his position as Archbishop of Canterbury, nominal head of the Anglican Church to spear-head such a change. 

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Firstly, it seems important to answer "Who?"

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My name is Sandi Hall. I am a writer, and feminist activist based in Aotearoa New Zealand. I have been a feminist activist mostly in Aotearoa New Zealand, for a long time. I am part of the activist community which got the anti-abortions laws changed, made sex-work legal, decriminalised homosexuality, and criminalised rape in marriage, to name a few successes. 

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I've been aware of the male-empowering connection between Church and State for years and, because I am a writer, particularly aware of, and annoyed by, the language western religion uses. But trying to effect change in institutions as wealthy and extensive as the Catholic Church seemed almost impossible. 

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But the trans community's success in changing the language of bureaucracy and law has changed my mind. I see now that through social media, it is possible to make known - on a global level - that changes to the language of western religion are long overdue. 

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Why? Because the language of western religion is at the root of sexism, and has been for two thousand years. Example: God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Ghost. Where is woman in this? Where is the gender which steadily, consistently, renews and refreshes the human species? And where is the Child, the human who holds our futures?

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This is all the more important because the language of western religion does not, cannot address a woman's spiritual needs. Why? Because the language itself keeps reiterating that the Supreme Being is male, and that the Being's authority is absolute. 

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Friends point to Mary, Catholicism's bid to take over the age-old understanding of the power of fertility. Rather than put Mary at the top of the pecking order, she becomes a side-bar, something that the Being made happen to her in order to gift the world with another male. 

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Does this sound fair to you?

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Q: What exactly does Throw The Hammer wish to achieve?

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A: A simple replacement of some words of the litany of western religion to make the language more inclusive. 

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We propose: God the Mother, God the Father, God the Holy Child. 

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These words above empower each aspect of humanity. More, for the first time, they support the divine importance of children, our portals to the future. 

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We show the major importance of women to humanity by putting God the Mother first on the list, as befits the gender which has the responsibility for holding new members of humanity within her body until they can live outside it. As everyone knows, in normal practice, this takes nine months. Impregnating a woman can take as little as five minutes and normally, about fifteen. 

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Some people have suggested we use God the Holy Family. This is a lovely suggestion and in some places would be very useful. But once again, it obscures the primary role of women. Further, it doesn't offer the shield of divinity to children. 

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If you agree with this logic, what can you do to help?

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1) Share our messages as widely as possible. 

2) Follow and interact with our social media on Instagram @pressurethepope

3) Use our hashtags, particularly #pressurethepope

4) Ask questions of your western religion advisor, if you have one and let us know how it went. 

5) If you are a churchgoer, get a debate going in your church congregation. 

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Let us know how it goes. 

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