[mnehring]

I really do dislike that "G_d" affectation - it seems to me that it is not merely silly, but in fact rather ostentatious public vanity.

Your 'likes' don't really matter to Orthodox Jews, Messianic Jews, and those of various Orthodox, Gnostic, and other Christian faiths who don't see this as silly or ostentatious vanity, but respect. The tradition comes from latter written translations of the Torah where God (or Shem or Elokim was not written so that the name of G_d could never be burnt or destroyed. Tradition holds this comes from the Jews being sent in exile and seeing their holy books of the Law destroyed

As for the name convention, in modern tradition, the name/word/title G_d is interchangeable for the traditional Elokim, Shem, or Yahweh, none of which are actual names but titles that we've traditionally accepted as names.

[King Prout]

except that God, Gott, Deus, etc... also apply to non-judeochristian entities, whereas YHVH and elohim do not.

titles and positions aren't names.

then again, that's the way I look at things, and it doesn't seem history agrees - Smith, Carpenter, Thatcher, Archer, Sheppard, Mason, etc...

ah, well.

in the end, we may find out.