[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

[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...

[al_c]

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.

But God and Lord are not his name, yet the same people that do this have no problem spelling out YHWH or some variation of that. Why is that?