The Holy Unspeakable Name
Religious types, I'm sure we all know, can be a hoot. Things that offend them, things that don't offend them, etc. can all lead to amusement and confusion on the part of a right-thinking individuals.
While there are numerous foibles of religiosity I could lampoon, right now the one I want to talk about is this whole thing about people getting upset/offended at the simple phrase "God damn it!"
They claim that this is using God's name in vain, which of course is prohibited by the 3rd commandment (in the most well-known version) of the Ten Commandments. And it's really offensive. Watch the cable channels sometimes....when they have to bleep someone saying "God damn it" the part they always bleep is the "God", never the damn. Why is that?
First of all, "God" is not the Creator of the Universe's name. It's the title, the job description. No one knows what the name of the god of the Bible sounds like. Ancient Hebrew was written with no vowels, so all we have is what's called the Tetragrammatron. It looks something like this:
Most people pronounce it Yahweh, if at all. Alot of people just say "God" Again, not the name, but the title. Much in the same way the man named Joseph Ratzinger has the title of Pope Benedict XVI.
"Okay, a minor point. You're just playing semantic gymnastics, Kris."
Alright, fine. I'll grant that for the time being. In that case, why is it okay to say "God bless you" and not okay to say "God damn it." In either case, you're stilling calling on the Creator of Everything to do something according to your bidding. Maybe God doesn't want to bless this person. It's not part of the plan. And you're going to sit there and tell him to do it? You're pretty brave, trying to defy the will of God like that. So it's really not the "God" part people have a problem with. It's the "damn" part. Kind of an uncomfortable thought.
But then why bleep the "God" in "God damn it." Or why just say "Damn it!" Isn't God, the one who's responsible for damnation, at least implied when one doesn't actually say it? So how is that any better?
Everyone knows what you really mean.
God damn people can be weird.
While there are numerous foibles of religiosity I could lampoon, right now the one I want to talk about is this whole thing about people getting upset/offended at the simple phrase "God damn it!"
They claim that this is using God's name in vain, which of course is prohibited by the 3rd commandment (in the most well-known version) of the Ten Commandments. And it's really offensive. Watch the cable channels sometimes....when they have to bleep someone saying "God damn it" the part they always bleep is the "God", never the damn. Why is that?
First of all, "God" is not the Creator of the Universe's name. It's the title, the job description. No one knows what the name of the god of the Bible sounds like. Ancient Hebrew was written with no vowels, so all we have is what's called the Tetragrammatron. It looks something like this:
Most people pronounce it Yahweh, if at all. Alot of people just say "God" Again, not the name, but the title. Much in the same way the man named Joseph Ratzinger has the title of Pope Benedict XVI.
"Okay, a minor point. You're just playing semantic gymnastics, Kris."
Alright, fine. I'll grant that for the time being. In that case, why is it okay to say "God bless you" and not okay to say "God damn it." In either case, you're stilling calling on the Creator of Everything to do something according to your bidding. Maybe God doesn't want to bless this person. It's not part of the plan. And you're going to sit there and tell him to do it? You're pretty brave, trying to defy the will of God like that. So it's really not the "God" part people have a problem with. It's the "damn" part. Kind of an uncomfortable thought.
But then why bleep the "God" in "God damn it." Or why just say "Damn it!" Isn't God, the one who's responsible for damnation, at least implied when one doesn't actually say it? So how is that any better?
Everyone knows what you really mean.
God damn people can be weird.