Mary Daly: The Unholy Trinity
Mary Daly's Unholy Trinity: Patriarchal God (male) legitimates male supremacy ("If God is male, then the male is God"), which leads to the "Unholy Trinity" of rape, genocide, and war. Daly argues Christianity has failed women by reinforcing patriarchy. She calls for "castrating God" (removing male language/concept) and for women to reject patriarchal religion entirely, rather than (like Ruether) attempting to reform it from within. This illustration depicts Mary Daly's argument about the Unholy Trinity: The patriarchal concept of God the Father (portrayed at the center in dark, dominating form) legitimates male supremacy through the logic "If God is male, then the male is God." This leads to the normalization of patriarchal power, which naturally produces the "Unholy Trinity" of rape, genocide, and war. Biblical examples (Eve blamed for the Fall, Mary as "total rape victim," male-only priesthood) show how Christianity reinforces these patterns. Daly's solution (shown at the bottom) is radical: women must "castrate God" (reject male God language), "fall out of Eden again" (embrace forbidden knowledge), and transcend patriarchal religion entirely rather than (like Ruether) attempting to reform it from within. The contrast with Ruether is shown in a side panel, emphasizing their fundamentally different approaches to feminist theology.
Summary
Mary Daly (1928-2010) was a radical American Catholic feminist theologian who argued that Christianity is fundamentally patriarchal and cannot be reformed.
Daly's Central Claim:
"If God is male, then the male is God"
What This Means:
- If the highest authority in the universe is portrayed as male, this gives men divine sanction for their dominance over women
- God the Father is the ultimate patriarchal symbol that legitimates oppression
- Christianity has used this concept to justify and perpetuate the oppression of women
The Problem: God is Male, Therefore Male is God
Daly's Logic
Premise 1:
In Christianity, God is described as male—"God the Father," "He," "His," "Him"
Premise 2:
God is presented as the ultimate authority, power, wisdom, and goodness
Logical Conclusion:
If the ultimate authority and power is male, then maleness becomes associated with ultimate authority and power
Cultural Result:
This divine sanction of maleness leads to male supremacy in all institutions—family, church, state
Quote from Daly:
"I have already suggested that if God is male, then the male is God. The divine patriarch castrates women as long as he is allowed to live on in the human imagination. Those which in one way or another objectify 'God' as a being thereby attempt in a self-contradictory way to envisage transcendent reality as finite. 'God' then functions to legitimate the existing social, economic, and political status quo, in which women and other victimised groups are subordinate."
Why Language Matters
- Even if theologians say "God isn't literally male," the language itself ("He," "Father") programs the imagination
- Unconsciously, the image of male God becomes the default mental image of ultimate power
- This makes male dominance seem natural, inevitable, God-ordained
The Unholy Trinity: How Patriarchal Religion Produces Violence
The Causal Chain
Step 1: The Patriarchal God Concept
The image of a male God legitimates male supremacy
Step 2: Male Dominance Becomes Normalized
Men see themselves as divinely superior; women internalize inferiority
Step 3: "Phallocentric Power" Culture
Male domination and conquest become values celebrated in society
Step 4: The Unholy Trinity Results
When "phallocentric power" is celebrated, the natural outcomes are rape, genocide, and war
RAPE
- Sexual violence is the manifestation of male dominance over women
- It is rooted in male sense of entitlement to women's bodies
- Patriarchal religion legitimates this entitlement by portraying women as subordinate to men
GENOCIDE
- The destruction of peoples, especially the targeted killing of women and girls
- War crimes that specifically target women (rape camps, forced sterilization)
- Historical examples: widow burning (Sati), female genital mutilation, foot binding, hysterectomy without consent
WAR
- Male dominance expressed through military conquest and violence
- Daly argues that war is defended by "phallic morality"—the logic that might makes right
- Peace requires abandoning phallic values
How Christianity Legitimates This Trinity
Daly claims Christianity reinforces the unholy trinity by:
- Making male authority seem divinely ordained
- Portraying women as inherently guilty (Eve as the source of sin)
- Using Jesus as a scapegoat for male guilt rather than challenging patriarchy
- Excluding women from priesthood and decision-making
Biblical Patriarchy: Daly's Evidence
Genesis 2-3: Eve as Scapegoat
- Eve is blamed for the Fall of Humanity—portrayed as the source of sin and evil
- The male (Adam) is initially innocent; he only sins after being seduced by the woman
- Effect: Women internalize guilt and inferiority; men feel justified in controlling women
- Daly's Point: This story has been used for 2,000 years to make women feel inherently evil
1 Corinthians 14: Women Must Be Silent
"Women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak...If they want to inquire about something, they should ask their own husbands" (1 Corinthians 14:34-35)
Mary as "Total Rape Victim"
- Daly argues that Mary was impregnated without consent ("How can this be? I am a virgin")
- Her role is to be servant of God and mother, not agent of her own will
- The Church's idealization of Mary (virgin and obedient) teaches women that subordination is virtue
- Daly's Critique: Women are asked to emulate Mary's helplessness and passivity
Jesus as Male Savior
- Daly argues that a male Jesus reinforces male supremacy even in salvation
- Jesus is presented as the "perfect male"—the ultimate figure of authority and power
- Effect: Women see themselves as saved by male dominance, not liberated from it
"Exclusively masculine symbols for the ideal of 'incarnation' or for the ideal of the human search for fulfilment will not do. The idea of a unique male savior may be seen as one more legitimation of male superiority"
Why Daly Rejects Christianity Entirely (Unlike Ruether)
Ruether's Approach: Reform from Within
- Ruether believes Christianity contains a "golden thread" of liberation
- She tries to recover the authentic, feminist Jesus hidden under patriarchal distortion
- She believes the Bible can be reread to support feminism
Daly's Approach: Reject and Transcend
- Daly believes Christianity is irredeemably patriarchal at its core
- The God the Father concept is too foundational—you can't reform it
- Patriarchal values are built into the very structure of the tradition
- Women have internalized their own oppression and are complicit in it
Daly's Solution: Transvaluation
Like Nietzsche's call to "transvalue all values," Daly calls for:
Complete Rejection
Complete rejection of patriarchal religion
"Castration of God"
Abolishing male God language entirely
"Fall out of Eden again"
Women must embrace the knowledge and freedom that patriarchy forbids
Female Spirituality
Embracing authentic female power and female spirituality, independent of male-defined religion
Quote from Daly:
"The most basic change has to take place in women—in our being and self-image. Women must have the courage to see and to be...to fall out of Eden again, commit the sin of gaining knowledge, and reject God the Father ruling all in favor of embracing the self-communicating Be-ing in ourselves."
The Trinity as Patriarchal Invention
Daly's Radical Claim
The Christian Trinity itself is a patriarchal invention—an all-male procession with no room for the feminine.
The Trinity as "All-Male Cast"
God the Father
(patriarch)
God the Son
(the perfect male)
God the Holy Spirit
(represented as masculine)
Daly's Critique:
"The Trinity becomes a quintessentially homo-erotic procession of male self-absorption and deception. Not only does she accuse the Trinity of putting on a one-act-play as the original love story performed by the Supreme All Male Cast, but also finds them responsible for the rape of the Virgin Mary."
What This Means
- The Trinity models an all-male hierarchy with no female principle
- It represents male self-love and self-replication (all male figures)
- It leaves no space for the divine feminine
Women's Complicity and the Road to Liberation
The Problem: Women Have Internalized Oppression
Daly argues that women are not only oppressed by patriarchy but have been tricked into participating in their own oppression.
Sati (Widow Burning)
A widow burning herself on her husband's funeral pyre sees herself as honorable, not as victimized
Genital Mutilation
Mothers circumcise their daughters, believing they are ensuring purity and honor, not harming them
Foot Binding
Mothers bound their daughters' feet, believing they were ensuring marriageability and status, not crippling them
The Mechanism: Patriarchal ideology masks oppression as honor, virtue, and love.
The Liberation Step
Women must:
- Recognize that they have internalized oppression
- Reject the patriarchal God and patriarchal religion
- Reclaim their own power and spirituality, independent of male-defined systems
- "Fall out of Eden" again—embrace forbidden knowledge and freedom
Female Spirituality and Space
Women Need Separate Space:
- Daly argues that women need women-only spaces to heal from patriarchal damage
- This is not segregation but necessary recovery
- Women in patriarchal religion are constantly exposed to images, language, and symbols that legitimize their oppression
- Women need new sacred spaces created by and for women
Daly vs. Ruether: Key Contrast
| Aspect | Ruether | Daly |
|---|---|---|
| Relationship to Christianity | Reform from within | Reject entirely |
| View of Jesus | Recover feminist Jesus (Sophia) | Male savior reinforces patriarchy |
| Method | "Golden thread" of liberation | Complete transvaluation |
| Solution | Reinterpret tradition | Create new women-centered spirituality |
| God Language | Recover feminine divine (Sophia) | "Castrate God"—abolish male God entirely |
Criticisms of Daly's Position
Strengths:
- Prophetic power: Daly names real patriarchal violence and doesn't minimize it
- Radical honesty: She refuses the "nice" compromises that soften the critique
- Identifies real mechanisms: Male God language does legitimize male authority
Weaknesses/Limitations:
- Too absolutist: Not all Christianity is irredeemable; some communities genuinely practice equality
- Oversimplification: Blames God for all male evil; doesn't account for cultural complexity
- Abandons rather than transforms: By leaving Christianity entirely, Daly gives up on reforming a 2-billion-person tradition
- Essentialism: Daly sometimes implies that women have an essential nature or spirituality that is superior to male spirituality—which mirrors the patriarchal essentialism she criticizes
- Lack of constructive vision: Daly excels at critique but offers little practical vision for alternative spirituality
Scholarly Perspectives
Quote 1 (The Core Argument):
"If God is male, then the male is God. The divine patriarch castrates women as long as he is allowed to live on in the human imagination. 'God' then functions to legitimate the existing social, economic, and political status quo, in which women and other victimised groups are subordinate. The maleness of God gives men the concept that power is male, that authority is male. This false spirituality is the invention of a patriarchal mindset trying to justify its having power."
Source: Mary Daly, Beyond God the Father (1973) and The Church and the Second Sex (1968)
Quote 2 (The Unholy Trinity):
"The 'unholy trinity' of rape, genocide and war naturally exist in a world in which 'phallocentric power' is celebrated. Christianity has legitimated male dominance which reinforces patriarchy. The patriarchal world produces an unholy trinity of abuse and violence because patriarchal ideology gives divine sanction to male domination. Women have internalized this oppression, seeing themselves as guilty (like Eve) and needing male salvation. Only by rejecting God the Father and transcending patriarchal religion entirely can women be liberated."
Source: Mary Daly, Gyn/Ecology (1978)
Key Takeaways for Your Exam
1. Know the Contrast: Daly vs. Ruether
- Ruether: Reform Christianity from within; recover feminist Jesus; use golden thread method
- Daly: Abandon Christianity entirely; reject patriarchal God; create women-centered spirituality
- Both critique patriarchy, but solutions are radically different
2. The Logic is Powerful
Understand the causal chain: Male God → Male supremacy → Phallocentric power → Rape, genocide, war
3. Language Matters
Daly emphasizes that even if God isn't "literally" male, the language itself shapes consciousness
4. Unholy Trinity is Central
Be able to explain how rape, genocide, and war are products of patriarchal power
5. Eve as Scapegoat
Understand that Daly sees the Fall narrative as using women as scapegoats for male guilt
6. Evaluate
Is Daly's rejection of Christianity too absolute? Or is she correct that patriarchy is so foundational that reform is impossible?
Quick Reference: Key Daly Concepts
| Concept | Meaning |
|---|---|
| "If God is male, then the male is God" | Male God concept legitimates male supremacy in all institutions |
| Unholy Trinity | Rape, genocide, and war—products of patriarchal power |
| Phallocentric Power | Male-centered domination celebrated as divine |
| Castrate God | Remove male God language and image from religion |
| Fall out of Eden again | Women must embrace forbidden knowledge and freedom |
| Transvaluation | Complete overturning of patriarchal values (inspired by Nietzsche) |
| Gyn/Ecology | Daly's key 1978 book analyzing patriarchal violence against women |
| Beyond God the Father | Daly's 1973 book calling for transcendence of patriarchal theology |