When God Was a Woman is the U.S. title of a book (©1976 ISBN 0-15-696158-X) published earlier in the U.K. as The Paradise Papers. Written by artist and art history professor Merlin Stone, it is a study of how the Hebrews so despised the goddess religions they found in Canaan when they invaded it, as the Bible tells, that they not only tried to wipe it out (largely by trying to kill everyone who practiced it -- what is today labeled "genocide"), but they also shaped Judaism to, literally, demonize its principles, especially those involving matriarchy, icons and snake handling, and fertility rites:
- "If your brother or son or daughter or wife or friend suggest serving other gods, you must kill him, your hand must be the first raised in putting him to death and all the people shall follow you" (Deut. 13:6).
- "If the inhabitants of a town that once served the Lord your God, now serve other gods, you must kill all the inhabitants of that town" (Deut. 13:15).
External link to Sunshine for Women page: When God Was a Woman