Quote:
Originally Posted by Harry Lime
I have a couple of friends who are very serious about the offense they feel when the Lord's name is taken in vain. I'm not a part of the group who is offended by this, and it has taken a while to become personally aware of my own vocabulary on this issue. Devout Christians arn't easily identifiable by sight.
I see what you are saying. "Stupid" is a descriptor, and "Boomer" has been a non-offensive term since it's inception until last Tuesday at 4:34PM, when a man named Joe in Wisconsin decided that it was bad.
Using the name Jesus Christ in a way that's easily identifiable as a negative has been offensive to a number of people for well over a millenia. Religion is in the same world as the issue at hand in terms of needing to tread lightly. Christians are rather forgiving, but going to Cairo, drawing a stick figure on the side of a building and shouting "Hey, look! It's...." will give an indication of the seriousness of minimizing one's faith.
It has been a struggle for me to change my language, but once the habit is gone, I notice when exclamations are made by others. I also get if this was a stealth jab at organized religion, putting it in with the other two. This is where I make a joke about St**** Bo*****.
On with the regularly scheduled programming.
(I would add as well, in relation to Peters use of certain language, that he was very aware of not only the offense given by use of the language itself, but of who he was saying it to. A double whammy of intention.)
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It’s still different. It’s not used as a derogatory word towards Christians. It’s just not following a rule of that religion. They don’t believe in taking the Lord’s name in vain. Fine, they shouldn’t. Muslims don’t eat bacon. Great, they don’t have to. I can do any of those things. I suppose if they say it bothers them I can oblige out of politeness, but IMo that’s no different than refraining from using an F bomb because people don’t like it.