2009年3月21日 18:16 The "Oh, my God!" debate (4 個評論)
- Dawn
- 53, 加拿大
The "Oh, my God!" debate
"Oh, my God!" - I've used it occasionally myself, but have worked hard to wean myself myself away from it. When I was younger it was considered as "taking the name of the Lord in vain". As many other things that Christians used to believe, it is no longer taboo.
I find myself asking lately how much of Christianity was handed down to us from God and how much of it was "man made" to keep the followers inline by the clergy. Surely, as it appears that much of what we were taught is reversible some of it had to be put in place by man?
As for "Oh. my God!", it is correct to use it in this manner just because more people do it and deem it okay?
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The "Oh, my God!" debate
Oh my God' TheRecord.com - Life - 'Oh my God'
Formerly impolite phrase, a.k.a. OMG, becomes commonplace
The Washington Post
"Oh my God!" That expression, once considered taboo in polite conversation, has become as commonplace as "that's cool'' or "see you later.''
The acronym, OMG, is nearly as ubiquitous. Room-chatters rely on it, so do text-messagers.
The search engine Yahoo now uses OMG as the name of a gossip-alert service.
But on Yahoo, there's a spirited debate about the name of the new OMG service on one of the message boards. A user writes: "This is taking the Lord's name in vain, and while I'm fairly certain you could care less about that, I can no longer support Yahoo if they insist on keeping this OMG product. It shows the height of insensitivity to people of faith.''
To which another user replies: "Lighten up, it's just an instant-messaging phrase. If you find that kind of thing offensive, you should unplug your Ethernet cable right now and stay off the Internet.''
And then someone makes the point: "There is no doubt what the OMG stands for. Every Christian should be outraged that the name of the Lord is used with such disrespect. The point is that people use his name as an insignificant figure of speech.''
Officially, Yahoo avoids the conflict altogether. "The name 'OMG' is derived from IM speak and means 'wow!"' says company spokesperson Carrie Davis.
Stanley Hauerwas, a religion professor at Duke Divinity School, takes a different slant. He has been known to liberally salt his everyday speech with profanities. Lingua Franca magazine once called him "a foul-mouthed theologian.''
He says that when he hears people say, "Oh my God,'' "it's a cry not of profanity or vulgarity. It usually has the grammar of a lament. You'd have to outlaw the Psalms if you wanted to do away with laments.''
Timothy Jay, author of Cursing in America and also Why We Curse, says that according to his research, " 'Oh my God' is in the top 10 of expletives. It is used five times as much by women as by men.'' Oddly enough, Jay says, research has also shown that "Oh my God'' is often a euphemism for something else.
Hauerwas agrees: "Instead of 'Oh my God,' I prefer 'Oh (excrement).' "
In fact, North American culture is more tolerant of profanities than obscenities. The U.S. Federal Communications Commission, for example, draws distinctions between profane language -- traditionally defined as irreverence toward God -- and obscene material, defined by the FCC as material that describes sexual conduct in a patently offensive way. Most profanities and vulgarities are allowed on the air at certain times of day, but obscenities are not.
In many societies throughout history, it has been taboo to speak the name of God. In Christendom, euphemisms -- like "zounds'' (God's wounds), "golly'' (God's body) and "gosh'' -- evolved. The Oxford English Dictionary defines "gosh'' as a "mincing pronunciation of God."
The first written record of the word "God'' in English, according to the OED, is from the 9th century. "Gosh'' enters the lexicon 900 years later. In 1804, one writer observed that "by gosh'' is the "most elegant and classical oath imaginable.''
And so there are two kinds of people in the world: those who say "Oh my God!'' and those who say something else. Even atheists have been known to cry "Oh my God!'' on occasion.
"Sure!'' says Eric Mintz, webmaster of the Ask an Atheist website. "I say it all the time.''
http://news.therecord.com/printArticle/287259
I find myself asking lately how much of Christianity was handed down to us from God and how much of it was "man made" to keep the followers inline by the clergy. Surely, as it appears that much of what we were taught is reversible some of it had to be put in place by man?
As for "Oh. my God!", it is correct to use it in this manner just because more people do it and deem it okay?
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The "Oh, my God!" debate
Oh my God' TheRecord.com - Life - 'Oh my God'
Formerly impolite phrase, a.k.a. OMG, becomes commonplace
The Washington Post
"Oh my God!" That expression, once considered taboo in polite conversation, has become as commonplace as "that's cool'' or "see you later.''
The acronym, OMG, is nearly as ubiquitous. Room-chatters rely on it, so do text-messagers.
The search engine Yahoo now uses OMG as the name of a gossip-alert service.
But on Yahoo, there's a spirited debate about the name of the new OMG service on one of the message boards. A user writes: "This is taking the Lord's name in vain, and while I'm fairly certain you could care less about that, I can no longer support Yahoo if they insist on keeping this OMG product. It shows the height of insensitivity to people of faith.''
To which another user replies: "Lighten up, it's just an instant-messaging phrase. If you find that kind of thing offensive, you should unplug your Ethernet cable right now and stay off the Internet.''
And then someone makes the point: "There is no doubt what the OMG stands for. Every Christian should be outraged that the name of the Lord is used with such disrespect. The point is that people use his name as an insignificant figure of speech.''
Officially, Yahoo avoids the conflict altogether. "The name 'OMG' is derived from IM speak and means 'wow!"' says company spokesperson Carrie Davis.
Stanley Hauerwas, a religion professor at Duke Divinity School, takes a different slant. He has been known to liberally salt his everyday speech with profanities. Lingua Franca magazine once called him "a foul-mouthed theologian.''
He says that when he hears people say, "Oh my God,'' "it's a cry not of profanity or vulgarity. It usually has the grammar of a lament. You'd have to outlaw the Psalms if you wanted to do away with laments.''
Timothy Jay, author of Cursing in America and also Why We Curse, says that according to his research, " 'Oh my God' is in the top 10 of expletives. It is used five times as much by women as by men.'' Oddly enough, Jay says, research has also shown that "Oh my God'' is often a euphemism for something else.
Hauerwas agrees: "Instead of 'Oh my God,' I prefer 'Oh (excrement).' "
In fact, North American culture is more tolerant of profanities than obscenities. The U.S. Federal Communications Commission, for example, draws distinctions between profane language -- traditionally defined as irreverence toward God -- and obscene material, defined by the FCC as material that describes sexual conduct in a patently offensive way. Most profanities and vulgarities are allowed on the air at certain times of day, but obscenities are not.
In many societies throughout history, it has been taboo to speak the name of God. In Christendom, euphemisms -- like "zounds'' (God's wounds), "golly'' (God's body) and "gosh'' -- evolved. The Oxford English Dictionary defines "gosh'' as a "mincing pronunciation of God."
The first written record of the word "God'' in English, according to the OED, is from the 9th century. "Gosh'' enters the lexicon 900 years later. In 1804, one writer observed that "by gosh'' is the "most elegant and classical oath imaginable.''
And so there are two kinds of people in the world: those who say "Oh my God!'' and those who say something else. Even atheists have been known to cry "Oh my God!'' on occasion.
"Sure!'' says Eric Mintz, webmaster of the Ask an Atheist website. "I say it all the time.''
http://news.therecord.com/printArticle/287259
2009年3月23日 9:30Re: Re: The "Oh, my God!" debate
Hmmmm Two things come to mind....
1) I am a Christian and I understood why the Muslims felt as they did (not the death threats but the insult). It doesn't matter what you believe or don't believe , other's beliefs should be respected in my opinion.
2) I am Christian but the Pope, as much as I respect his position within the Roman Catholic Church, has nothing to do with my religion which is Anglican
1) I am a Christian and I understood why the Muslims felt as they did (not the death threats but the insult). It doesn't matter what you believe or don't believe , other's beliefs should be respected in my opinion.
2) I am Christian but the Pope, as much as I respect his position within the Roman Catholic Church, has nothing to do with my religion which is Anglican
2009年3月23日 9:48Re: Re: Re: The "Oh, my God!" debate
Nils
42, 東加
1) I am agnostic and I think that all believes should be respected.
But there is also freedom of opinion and freedom of speech, which sometimes collide.
I don't see the problem in the actual publishing of the paintings. Freedome of speech- Muslims....live with it.
What I think was worse, was the copying by other papaers AFTER the prostest started under the NAME of freedom of press and speech.
That was unneccessary!
2) No way can I respect a man who so openly stands against so many things I believe and (in my opinion) "rapes" his believe to make people hate or neglect each other, where he should be bringing them together!
3) When I say "christians" or "muslims" I always generalize and never want to attack someone personally.
But there is also freedom of opinion and freedom of speech, which sometimes collide.
I don't see the problem in the actual publishing of the paintings. Freedome of speech- Muslims....live with it.
What I think was worse, was the copying by other papaers AFTER the prostest started under the NAME of freedom of press and speech.
That was unneccessary!
2) No way can I respect a man who so openly stands against so many things I believe and (in my opinion) "rapes" his believe to make people hate or neglect each other, where he should be bringing them together!
3) When I say "christians" or "muslims" I always generalize and never want to attack someone personally.
2009年3月24日 12:24Re: The
1) I respect your beliefs Nils. No one is perfect and that includes me. I choose to believe as I do but I'm not so foolish as to say that my way is the only way.
2) As for the Pope, I respect his position within the Roman Catholic Church, that's not to say I agree with his position on issues, in fact, I know nothing about this Pope. I don't even know his name.
3) Understood! :)
Thanks, Nils. As always, hugs to you my friend.
2) As for the Pope, I respect his position within the Roman Catholic Church, that's not to say I agree with his position on issues, in fact, I know nothing about this Pope. I don't even know his name.
3) Understood! :)
Thanks, Nils. As always, hugs to you my friend.
2009年3月23日 7:16Re: The "Oh, my God!" debate
No matter what you say or do: someone is always pissed off because of this or that.
These people should join a monestary.
There they will hear nothing all day long but the words of the lord (I presume...I never been a monk).
We were all so "amused" by how "mideveal" the outrage about the Mohammed paintings were...and next some christian-bonehead turns the corner and talks about "profanity" when "OMG" becomes an all day expression!
Christians have much bigger problems today.
Two words: the pope!
As long as that old, semi-senil, nazi-fart is around and preaching hate against homosexuals, talks about things he has no clue about (condoms preventing AIDS...or has he???!!)...I think the question, if a lot of the christian believe is man(!!!)-made to keep the masses quiet, is easy to answer.
If you yourself (christians) decide not to use that phrase (or others) anymore: fine! Your choice! It's a (seemingly) free world! That is ok.
But for the rest of us: times change, customs change...no matter how you are against this or that: change will happen.
Language is an evolving, living thing!
So please, christian (ex-) yahoo-users: look for a hobby that keeps you off such unimportant issues!