God...not G-d

[grumple]

In light of the many perversions and jokes we send to one another for a laugh, this is a little different: This is not intended to be a joke, it's not funny, it's intended to get you thinking. Billy Graham's daughter was interviewed on the Early Show and Jane Clayton asked her "How could God let something like this happen?" (regarding the attacks on Sept. 11). Anne Graham gave an extremely profound and insightful response. She said "I believe God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are, but for years we've been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of our government and to get out of our lives. And being the gentleman He is, I believe He has calmly backed out. How can we expect God to give us His blessing and His protection if we demand He leave us alone?" In light of recent events...terrorists attack, school shootings, etc. I think it started when Madeleine Murray O'Hare (she was murdered, her body found recently) complained she didn't want prayer in our schools, and we said OK.

Then someone said you better not read the Bible in school ... the Bible says thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, and love your neighbor as yourself. And we said OK.

Then Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn't spank our children when they misbehave because their little personalities would be warped and we might damage their self-esteem (Dr. Spock's son committed suicide). We said an expert should know what he's talking about. And we said OK.

Then someone said teachers and principals better not discipline our children when they misbehave. The school administrators said no faculty member in this school better touch a student when they misbehave because we don't want any bad publicity, and we surely don't want to be sued (there's a big difference between disciplining, touching, beating, smacking, humiliating, kicking, etc.). And we said OK. Then someone said, let's let our daughters have abortions if they want, and they won't even have to tell their parents. And we said OK. Then some wise school board member said, since boys will be boys and they're going to do it anyway, let's give our sons all the condoms they want so they can have all the fun they desire, and we won't have to tell their parents they got them at school. And we said OK

Then some of our top elected officials said it doesn't matter what we do in private as long as we do our jobs. Agreeing with them, we said it doesn't matter to me what anyone, including the President, does in private as long as I have a job and the economy is good.

Then someone said let's print magazines with pictures of nude women and call it wholesome, down-to-earth appreciation for the beauty of the female body. And we said OK. And then someone else took that appreciation a step further and published pictures of nude children and then further again by making them available on the Internet. And we said OK, they're entitled to free speech.

Then the entertainment industry said, let's make TV shows and movies that promote profanity, violence, and illicit sex. Let's record music that encourages rape, drugs, murder, suicide, and satanic themes. And we said it's just entertainment, it has no adverse effect, nobody takes it seriously anyway, so go right ahead.

Now we're asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don't know right from wrong, and why it doesn't bother them to kill strangers, their classmates, and themselves.

Probably, if we think about it long and hard enough, we can figure it out. I think it has a great deal to do with "WE REAP WHAT WE SOW."

Funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the world's going to hell. Funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but question what the Bible says.

Funny how you can send 'jokes' through e-mail and they spread like wildfire but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord, people think twice about sharing.

Funny how lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene articles pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion of God is suppressed in the school and workplace.

Are you laughing?

Funny how when you forward this message, you will not send it to many on your address list because you're not sure what they believe, or what they WILL think of you for sending it. Funny how we can be more worried about what other people think of us than what God thinks of us.

Pass it on if you think it has merit. If not then just discard it... no one will know you did. But, if you discard this thought process, don't sit back and complain about what bad shape the world is in!

[rwfromkansas]

I have seen that e-mail before and it is good.

As for the issue of G-d, it is not a sign of disrespect. Actually, it is the opposite.

It comes from the tradition of the Jews being fearful of daring to say God's name. It is a practice done in reverence, with fear and trembling. It is by no means something negative or intended to mock the Lord.

Perhaps we Christians should learn a little reverence and awe at the very name of God and everything else connected with the Almighty.

[rwfromkansas]

It has to do with the nature of the Hebrew etc.

We have become accustomed to one name for God and therefore are not used to it being used only in special occassions.

[HairOfTheDog]

Christians didn't seem to know that Gee and Gosh are...alterations of "Jesus" and "God", which came into the vernacular as a way of saying those names without actually saying them.

Vulgarities that have worked their way into common vernacular are one of my pet peeves.... it bothers me a little to hear "sucks" in G-Rated common speech.

[hellinahandcart]

It makes me think they are using the word G-d because they don't really believe in God.

Ah. So, even after the explanation of the custom, it's still your opinion that Orthodox Jews don't really believe in God.

You must really, really want to hang on to that belief for some reason.

Just my opinion, of course.

[hellinahandcart]

However, the article still focuses on the removal of God and it seems that more emphasis should be put on the Word of God rather than the spelling

Observant Jews are not the ones who dropped the ball, in terms of keeping God front and center.

[hellinahandcart]

(*cough*) Well, due to the aforementioned "glass house" principle, I can't complain about anyone else's vulgarities.

[HairOfTheDog]

Guilty of that one are you?

Well that sucks..... didn't mean to make you feel bad. ;~D

[rwfromkansas]

Are you Jewish or have you read Jewish theology?

If not, there is nothing weird about that.

I only started seeing it online also, but that is because quite frankly, I do not know a single Jew I have met. I wonder if there are any in my town even sometimes.

[rwfromkansas]

Good point.

Though I say gee and gosh a lot and don't see anything wrong about it. I am not actually using the Lord's name in vain. That is the sin and I roll my eyes when people tell me "you are really taking the Lord's name in vain when you say gee or gosh." Those people need to stop being so dang legalist.

[montag813]

You are an idiot. Jews do this as a sign of respect. Why would this offend you?

[arasina]

Thanks to whatshername for the CATHY comic.

[PatrioticAmerican]

No, they are not talking about God, they are talking about G_d, as though G-d is to be feared. God knows the heart and soul, spelling his name as G_d is a bit silly and immature.

[PatrioticAmerican]

Listen, you can be an idiot all you want and live your life in fear of God, but the rest of us will just leave the misspellings out of it. His name is God, not G_d. Jeez, you could at least have enough respect to spell it correctly. You do you think you are fooling? God?

"hehe, I spelled it 'G_d' in case I said something bad. He won't notice, giggle."

[PatrioticAmerican]

"But I would like to point out that God is not His name, but a statement of His nature"

A very true statement, and, as such, spelling God as 'G_d' actually does nothing in the fact that God is his nature not his name.

Thanks for that clarification. I totally agree.

[HairOfTheDog]

You keep saying it is out of fear or shame of God no matter how many times you are told you are wrong by myself and others on the thread who have explained it.

They are talking about God, and spelling it G-d because they respect "God" too much to see it on a piece of paper that will become common trash or a birdcage liner. You can think that is silly, but you are deliberately dishonest if you continue to mistate the reason for it.

[holden]

The "it" in my sentence refers not to leaving out an 'o'. Surely you're not so confused as to imply I was claiming English was 'g' 'o' 'd' was written one way or another for millenia. Check out the 'ineffable tetragrammaton' via Google. Perhaps you'll be somewhat enlightened.

HF

[hellinahandcart]

I have always spelled it "God", you ignorant malfunctioning uncomprehending little bigot, and at least I never had the temerity to assume what would piss me off "if I were God", as you did. It's not a position you can aspire to, you know.

Particularly not you.

And as long as I'm on the subject, most reverent Christians would capitalize the "h" in "Him", when referring to God in the third person. You didn't, before. Don't think I didn't notice! Trying to bring God down to your level, or something? You tried to project your own bigotry onto Him before, so it wouldn't surprise me.

[gitmo]

I encountered this in the early 70's. I was in a Bible school in a Baptist church with a Rabbi. When we were comparing our notes from the classes, my Rabbi buddy used G-d, J-s, and H-S. He said he considered this a sign of respect, and could not bring himself to spell out God, Jesus, or Holy Spirit. The tetragrammaton was is Holy and should be kept Holy.

I laughed. (We were pretty close friends). I faithfully spell each name out, and cannot bring myself to abbreviate any of them, even for note taking. Again, it is a sign of respect.

We were both sincere in our signs of respect. We decided that Paul's discourse on Liberty (I Corinthians 9 & 10) was applicable here. Besides, that was the book we were studying at the time.

I Cor 10:24
Let no one seek his own good, but that of his neighbor.
Eat anything that is sold in the meat market, without asking questions for conscience' sake;
FOR THE EARTH IS THE LORD'S AND ALL IT CONTAINS
If any of the unbelievers invites you, and you wish to go, eat anything that is set before you, without asking questions for conscience's sake.
But if anyone should say to you, "This is meat sacrificed to idols," do not eat it, for the sake of the one who informed you, and for conscience's sake
I mean not your own conscience, but the other man's ; for why is my freedom judged by another's conscience?

When I am in an environment where brothers spell God as "G-d" I will do so in order to honor their reverence of God. Jewish World Review is such an environment. When I am in an environment where GOD is used as spelled, I do so. Perhaps it is legalism to use G-d. It really doesn't matter. My liberty in God permits me to do either. My respect for the spiritual needs for brothers and sisters demands I recognize their need to respect Him as they feel led.

Look around yourself at Church next week. Notice how many things are accepted as part of the worship experience in your church, and yet are not required by Scripture. It can be how you dress, it can be how you pray, it can be the language you use in the Church, it can be how you act in the building. We all have G-d thingies that we conciously or subconciously consider holy.

[xm177e2]

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".

Specifically, spelling out any of the names used to mean "God" on any temporary surface is forbidden in Judaism. A blackboard or a computer monitor would be one of these, but a prayerbook would not be.

But notice how I said "any of the names used to mean "God"" and not "God's name"--because God's true name is supposed to be a big, big secret. Even the Jewish prayerbooks use "Adonai," which isn't really God's name.

But you're still not allowed to put "Adonai" on a temporary surface.

[HairOfTheDog]

you ignorant malfunctioning uncomprehending little bigot

[spit-take]

ROTFL!