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Probably flammable, but I want to ask anyways
I cringe every time I see some of you post the name of my Savior in vain on here. I find it incredibly offensive and it almost hurts a little to read it. I know, I'm probably crossing into overly sensitive, get over it territory, but whatever.
I'm curious - do some of you realize how offensive it is to say when you say it or is it just out of habit that it comes out? Does knowing that it is offensive make you think twice about using it in the future?
I'm not screaming persecution or anything, believe me, but I think that if another group said that they found an expression offensive (like retarded, gay, or anything like that), we would bend over backwards in order to wipe that phrase from our vocabulary. How is this different? Is it because the words retarded and gay refer to actual groups of people living today and the other refers to an important part of a fath, so they are different things to you? Honestly curious.
I realize it's probably flame-worthy to even bring up, but it's something I've wondered. Plus, it's Good Friday, so it seems slightly appropriate.
Re: Probably flammable, but I want to ask anyways
I see nothing wrong with this question. I know that I sometimes use OMG, but I tend to think Oh My Gosh.
RE; Good Friday I was wondering whether you fast at all?
If it helps it bothers me too.
I imagine those that use it do so out of habit and don't really think about it.
I confess to trying really hard to be careful especially around you, but I sometimes slip up...probably more with cursing that the other.
I don't think its flameworthy at all that you find it offensive and wish it didn't happen, but I think we can all find something we find offensive or that hits us wrong on here daily and it would be a bit let setting out to change the world
I would agree with that. When I first converted this was a habit I had to work on.
I do a liquid fast, because I'm nursing and my supply would tank if I didn't get at least some nutrients throughout the day. I mostly end up drinking tea, milk, juice and broth.
Do you fast?
The cursing doesn't bother me. Just the inappropriate usage of Jesus and God.
But you're right. I'm sure I say things that are offensive to others too.
You have the wrong end of the stick. Retarded, gay, the n-word are all used in an attacking, hurtful way. They have decades (or even centuries) of hate and malice behind them.
God, when used as an exclamation or epithet, does not fall into that category. People are using the same way they would as fvvck, sh!t, etc. Is it offensive to some, sure. Is it something you should curb from someone else's vocabulary? No. It's between them and their own God.
Most of the time if I use it in writing I change it to gawd.
You got some balls. I like what you guessed above, I think that's part of it. At least for me. However it's not because the other refers to an important part of a faith, but rather due to the fact that it is indisputable that the groups of people (GnR) exist.
I've always viewed the 'don't place the lord's name in vain' thing as a threat to the person who'd place it in vain. Never considered how it could possibly offend someone listening. But because we all hear things that bother us, every day, and because my intent isn't to offend anyone when I say it... I'm very likely going to continue using the phrases in question.
Heck, more people are probably offended by the eff word, but we all know how often people go out of their way to get it into a Nest post ffs/forfuck'ssake/fuckityfuckfuckfuck/fuckaduckandmakeitcluck, etc. But I don't see anyone willing to stop saying that word around here.
I guess it depends on how you look at it. My faith teaches me that this is one of the most offensive things to say - to the point that it has it's own Commandment equal to things like murder.
Yes. Normally I do more than what is suggested by the Church, but I got sick yesterday, so I'll probably be more careful. Last night I couldn't fall asleep and it made me think about what that night must have been like for our Lord. It made me wonder whether he ever fell asleep that night. Or did God bless Him with a great night of sleep in preparation for today?
The difference to me is that the terms "gay" and "retarded" and the n-word are derogatory terms describing a group of people who cannot change who they are. Using the words "God " or "Jesus Christ" in what you feel is a derogatory way are not said to discriminate against you or Christians as a whole. It's not said to inspire hate against Christians. At most, it's the use of a term you feel offensive because of your own personal beliefs.
I'm probably not expressing this as well as I could, but I yeah, I see a big difference between saying "Jesus Christ" under my breath when I'm pissed off and using terms that are derogatory to entire groups of people based on something like race or sexual orientation or mental disability.
For the record, my DH and I are lapsed Christians - we're counted on the official rolls of a church but we rarely choose to attend.
Meredith, 6-1-06 and Alex, 11-5-09
What exactly counts as taking the lord's name in vain? Any use of Jesus/God followed by an exclamation point? OMG? There's a difference between this and blasphemy, right? Is there a clearer definition in the Bible of what it means to take the lord's name in vain, other than the ten commandments?
And this is one of the reasons I don't go to church anymore. I just can't believe that saying "Goddamnit" is equal to or even remotely comparable to murdering another human being.
Meredith, 6-1-06 and Alex, 11-5-09
I don't know. This morning I read a thread where someone was getting angry and they wrote a long paragraph and ended it with J_____ C_____. It just seemed really harsh and inappropriate to me.
I can glance over the Oh Em Gees and stuff, because I can see how someone can write it saying Oh Em Gee in their head. But when people say J______ (sometimes inserting the fword in between) C_________ it just rubs me the wrong way.
I do now the intent isn't to offend when they are saying it. I just thought I would bring up how it can be off-putting to others.
You know, I started using sweet jeebus instead of Jesus because I was trying to be less offensive (nevermind that I cuss and all that LOL!). Does that bother you too?
I don't think I use God in a derogatory way much if at all (I tend to go for Good Grief Charlie Brown instead), but I will be more cognizant of it now for sure.
I'm going to echo the sentiment that using the Jesus, Christ, God, etc., "in vain" is not at all the same as using words like gay, retarded, etc. As others have stated, those words are used to marginalize, insult and otherwise verbally injure people.
I don't take issue with you or any other believer taking offense to the way people use those phrases, however I just don't think the situations are comparable. And despite what the Commandments may tell us, I surely do not equate it to murder.
Gay is considered derogatory? Really? Because my homosexual friends/coworkers all refer to themselves as "gay." I could see how saying something like "That's so gay" would be offensive, but I don't know anyone IRL who thinks that calling someone who is homosexual "gay" is offensive.
I tend to cringe over the JFC usage as a Catholic but I feel it reflects more on the user than myself. I don't like using swears of any sort to convey my feelings (and I'm not perfect in that regard.) It really just factors into how I view the other posters opinion.
I don't think it's flammable at all for you to feel offended, if it is then flame me as well.
The use of JayEffCee is one of the first things that stood out to me about this board and I find it offensive as well... but I don't expect anyone to change it.
This is most definitely something a good majority of people aren't going to think they are doing anything wrong.
What now? Is there a sarcasm font I'm missing?
ETA: I think that one goes both ways. I mean, my cousin, who is gay, is just that - gay. But that doesn't mean it's never used as an insult toward someone else.
Some of the worst offenders I know regarding the use of "Jesus Christ!" as an expletive are Irish Catholics.
Amiright? Where's IIOY?
I just don't think we get to decide how someone feels. If she finds it offensive those are her feelings and belief system. Just like she can't tell me to not be offended by certain things I take offense in.
It is her matter of perception.
Former Catholic, current atheist (or maybe agnostic?) here. I'm not offended by a general "oh my God!" but I was raised thinking that "Jesus Christ!" was a pretty bad swear. I would say even then that I wasn't offended so much, as I was aware that ok, the swearer was really angry or really scared to use the forbidden phrase - which made it a really effective swear. When my mom used it, you knew she was really pissed and wasn't messing around.
I was still pretty innocent when I started college and had a roommate who would use "Jesus effing Christ!" I found that combination of the the profane and the vulgar REALLY, really offensive - and ultimately, all the more attractive for it. I mean, if you're going to swear, GO FOR IT, you know? Even today, that and OMFG make me recoil just a little. And I that many that type 'OMFG' aren't even thinking about it or really trying to shock or offend - so I think they should just drop the F. I wouldn't use either phrase around someone who was really religious. I probably wouldn't use a straight up "Jesus Christ!" either, unless it slipped out. So, yeah, I guess I am aware of its power to offend, but I think there are also degrees of offensiveness, depending how it's used.
So true.
I agree with this.
There are a group of posters here who really like being offensive (and this is different than offend-offs, it seems) so I think most of us are just used to certain people being a certain way and brushing it off.