Do you know this for sure? Are you positive that some people don’t drop a hammer on their foot and go “Oh, Buddha Allah Ron L Hubbard!!!!” ???

I’ve also thought of this.
Is it appropriate to scream “Lucifer!” When you stub your toe? Cause this kind of appeals to me as you make his name kind of meaningless.

A lot of people brought up Muslim but who no longer practice use ‘Allah’ as a curse word. I’d like to correct Melly up there ^ neither the Buddha nor Ron L Hubbard are deities!

That’s quiet interesting. I’ve never actually heard that be said before, I wonder how common it is compared to say someone using the name of Jesus Christ?

Trust you to be picky, Becks

I’m guessing it’s not THAT common, but it does happen.

And Melly, you should know me! I am picky!

I’d say it’s not all that common that people use names of other deities in our Western world. It makes sense that countries with Christian roots would use the Christian deity to curse, whereas Muslim countries might use Allah or some other variant.

But then, how do we even know that the label we’ve given to our deities is their actual name, and so, how do we know when we’re using it as a curse word. Everything seems so arbitrary to me. If I was born in another country with another mother tongue, I’d probably use different labels and different cuss words.

Again, we get overly focussed on the action, and don’t even consider the intent. But then, what else can I expect…this is exactly how we have been since I can remeber…straining out the unimportant knats and most likely swallowing the camels.

Tell me, what’s more important to ponder and consider, why people use the label ‘Christ’ when they swear, as if it somehow produces a mass of overwhelming evidence in favour of what we so desperately want to believe, or why we’re all so inherently selfish, or why we do swear in the first place.

People…it’s what’s in the heart that counts. Using God’s name in vain (sp?) really only becomes an issue when you revere Him anyway, because if you don’t, who cares? Intent, intent, intent. Focus on what’s behind the action, not the action itself.

Anyway, that’s my speel.
Talk to you again soon.

Dan dan dan.
Your backtracking on your own thoughts…

“But then, how do we even know that the label we’ve given to our deities is their actual name, and so, how do we know when we’re using it as a curse word. Everything seems so arbitrary to me.”

Jesus, or Christ, is obviously only the English translation to the Aramaic language of the day, but as you are well aware, it is quite clear who it is referring to, and as you later said, its the meaning the counts – not the word itself, so quite clearly, people are dissing the One and Only. Also true that those who don’t know any better are free from guilt, but I’m quite sure the majority of westerners who curse in his name are aware of who he was (at least as a man). A day will come when the truth is known by all. One can only wonder in who’s lifetime that day will come!

Having said all that, I must add…
I also realise God’s love is so great, he cares little for what is done by a non-believer (whether it be stealing a pencil or serial rape), but rather cries that they might know him and place their life in his hands – that they (with God) might walk through life together as he created life to be.

Dan L, I take your point, but think you are missing mine. I didn’t express it well, so I’m not surprised…I hardly get my point after re-reading.

What I’m saying is that given God is the “One and Only”, He exists and so on, we can divide people into two categories: (1) Christians and (2) Non-Christians. A large proportion of category 2 may know who Christ was as a man, but they don’t recognise his importance because they consider him to be either a madman or a liar, and not God. So what difference does it make to them, in their thinking, to use that name as a cuss word. As far as they’re concerned, it is a cuss word, like shit and fuck and whatever else, and that’s all it is.

Another quick thought for insight…when I was young I used to say “gees” or “gee wiz” until I thought about the connection (that gees is a shortened bastardisation of Jesus) and realised I was stepping dangerously near the line of blasphemy (in my young and reverent mind).

It was only because I was already reverent that I gave it any thought whatsoever.

I hope this gets my point across a little better.

mmm – nah. not really – got it the first time

Another thought to ponder…
Why curse at all? We are called to be pure – to think upon such things and to speak accordingly. Why coat your conversation in dirt? or as James puts it in Chpt 3, the words that flow from our mouth are like a spring. A spring is either fresh and pure, or it is salty – it cannot be both. The conatations carried by cuss words define them, despite the fact you will argue their purest definition is in fact faeces or having sex which in themselves are not evil things.

Two words.

Grufuganah (mumble)
Tummy Scream! (yell)

These have helped me no end. Because lets face it. It our nature to exclaim upon sudden of shocking things. I’m pretty sure that you see in the scripture things like;

“Paul exclaimed when he saw them”
“David cursed his name”
“Solomon cried out in agony”

These are just examples so don’t go reaching for the book, but i think you get the idea. These are useful writing tools when you don’t wish to (or know) the actual words. We see it in kids books all the time. Ron in Harry Potter books is known to “swear” when something goes wrong, (i.e. “Ron swore”) and in Edding’s books Belgarath and the others also do it.

My point is that exclaiming is a natural part of life so I certainly don’t recommend trying to stop completly. But, yeah I definitly try not to do the religious stuff.

This doesn’t actually reflect the current course of the conversation, but its my 2 cents nonetheless.

Josh MacDowell mentioned it (the fact that other names are not used as a cuss word) in his book, “More Than a Carpenter.”

I stumbled upon this site while looking up a quote I read. I wanted to comment on the testimony, but didn’t see a place to do it. I enjoyed reading it. It’s always refreshing to hear someone else’s journey.