God...not G-d

[grumple]

Many times lately I've seen the word God (on Free Republic) where some have forgotten how to spell it, like some aversion to it, as if they would be skewered by the Devil's pitchfork for spelling it out....I received this in e-mail and myself thought it was profound....

[Catspaw]

It's neither a spelling error or an adversion to "God." It's a sign of respect.

[E Rocc]

Many times lately I've seen the word God (on Free Republic) where some have forgotten how to spell it, like some aversion to it, as if they would be skewered by the Devil's pitchfork for spelling it out....I received this in e-mail and myself thought it was profound....

Three points:

1) Many if not most of the people who write "G-d" do so for religious reasons of their own. They feel there is a religious proscription against spelling out the word "God".

2) Discussion of religion is not proscribed in the school or workplace, at least not by the Supreme Court. The courts only maintain that all religious beliefs must be treated equally. A public school may legally have a Christian Club that meets after school...they had just better be willing to allow the Wiccan Club or Atheist Club to meet too.

3) When people in this nation are reticent about discussing religion with those whose beliefs are unknown, that's not embarrasment about their own faith, but respect for that of others. Many if not most of us tend to recognize religion as a matter of personal conscience. Indeed, unsolicited religious commentaries rarely lead to discussion, nor, I suspect, are they intended to. Dave Barry once said "People who want to share their religious beliefs with you never seem to want you to share yours with them.". He had a point.

-Eric

[Catspaw]

The Basics of Judaism: G-d & Torah: Not spelling out "G-d":

Why do we write "G-d" instead of spelling it out?

 

We're concerned that a document containing G-d's Name might not be treated respectfully, so we don't spell out the Name in full. Using an abbreviation isn't disrespectful; it's like using "Dr." for "Doctor". Furthermore, we're using the abbreviation for a respectful reason: to avoid putting the Name in a position where it might be treated disrespectfully. Using substitutes for Divine Names is an old Jewish tradition; the Tetragrammaton is never pronounced nowadays (it was pronouced by the priests when the Temple existed), but is replaced by "My L-rd", and even the replacement is used only for sacred purposes.
ar@torah.org

[Panama714]

A moving thing to read. Not to take anything away from it, but it isn't a direct quote from Anne Graham.

http://www.snopes.com/rumors/wheregod.htm

Dave

[solitas]

Many if not most of the people who write "G-d" do so for religious reasons of their own. They feel there is a religious proscription against spelling out the word "God".

Do you not think that if fully spelling-out "God" really pissed Him off that He would've lightning-struck somebody for it by now?

[freesia2]

I will accept that some believe it is a sign of respect, but I don't understand how not speaking (writing) the name is respectful. Typing "G-d" looks to me more like it is a dirty word someone is trying to sneak past a language filter.

[grumple]

Hmmm...it seems I have been educated this morning, but I'm not sure I agree with the "respect" premise. To me God is well...God....? But anyway, thanks all for some background...

[Rodney King]

Well, it's a good post. However, the logical conclusion of it is that these events would not have happend if God were back in the schools, etc. Of course, when God was back in the schools, plenty of terrible things happened then as well.

[grumple]

"A moving thing to read. Not to take anything away from it, but it isn't a direct quote from Anne Graham." Yeah, I've seen this style article before and I hate when it gets convuluted into someone else saying it...glad you enjoyed.

[Catspaw]

Typing "G-d" looks to me more like it is a dirty word someone is trying to sneak past a language filter.

I can't be sure when this practice started in Judaism, but I can make an estimated guess the practice of spelling "God" "G-d" started long before language filters.

[Ronly Bonly Jones]

It's Orthodox Jewish practice not to spell out the full name of the Lord in English; it's an echo of the (very wise) tradition not to say out loud the 'tetragrammaton', replacing it with 'Adonai' ("Lord") when speaking Scripture. I think it is an exceedingly righteous tradition and should be emulated by devout Christians.

OTOH, don't get me started on numbering years B.C.E. and C.E. ....

[E Rocc]

Many if not most of the people who write "G-d" do so for religious reasons of their own. They feel there is a religious proscription against spelling out the word "God".

Do you not think that if fully spelling-out "God" really pissed Him off that He would've lightning-struck somebody for it by now?

LOL! Even if I believed that such lightning strikes happened I can think of better reasons for such to happen.

Such as the time I was in my best friend's wedding party. I think everyone was relieved that it was a clear day. :snicker:

-Eric

[drlevy88]

As an interesting point of trivia, this was also an early Christian custom. The Greek term for "lord" (kurios), when used in reference to Jesus Christ, was rendered KS. This is one of the historical evidences showing that early Christians (who were mostly Jews) regarded Jesus Christ as deity, rather than the doctrine evolving later.

[catonsville]

Jews believe that if you write G-d's name, say on Free Republic, and it is later deleted. that you have disrespected Him.

They also bury old, no longer useful versions of the Torah (Bible), it is never discarded or destroyed in other ways.

When the Nazis began burning down synagogues in Europe, there were instances of Jews rushing into the flames to rescue the Torah.

Christians and Jews believe that G-d's name should not be taken in vain or be dishonored. I wish more of us lived up to that.

[drlevy88]

Just curious, if Muslims have a similar scruple about the Arabic for "Allah." They sure don't seem to have any problem with spelling their deity's name out in English.

[FReepaholic]

Well, bad things happened BEFORE we kicked God out of schools and the entertainment industry kicked into high, lewd, gear.

World War 2, for example.

[ALS]

amen brother!

[hellinahandcart]

Typing "G-d" looks to me more like it is a dirty word someone is trying to sneak past a language filter.

Since this custom predates language filters and computers by a significant chunk of time, how it "looks" to you online in the 21st century, and what it actually is, are two different things, aren't they?

[jejones]

It's a remnant of the old belief that if you knew something's "true name" you could control it.