(no subject)

[jhameia]

It's impossible to get sympathy from Nova Scotians:

Jaymee says:
JESUS
Jaymee says:
it looks cold out
Jaymee says:
and here i was gonna mosey around
Jaymee says:
better dress warm then
Zibblsnrt says:
it's only -1 out, so it's not bad
Jaymee says:
......
Jaymee says:
it's ONLY -1, sez you
Jaymee says:
anyways XD
Zibblsnrt says:
Feh, starting in December -1 is warm.
Jaymee says:
thanks, Mr. Positive!
Zibblsnrt says:
Anytime!

Comments

[katherineokelly.livejournal.com]

I appreciated your link about Best Buy standing by their decision to wish their Muslim customers a Happy Eid Al-Adha. (Such a cool link, I posted it on my Facebook. Thanks!)
I also appreciate your opposition to using "lame" as a derogatory descriptor. I was wondering if you'd contemplated your use of "Jesus" as a derogatory expletive.

[fantasyecho.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I've been working on that. I don't use it as a derogatory expletive, but as an exclamation (very few other religions have such non-discriminatory saviours, and you may have noticed my using "omg" to express positive things as well). It's one of those "culturally Christian" markers I've picked up, and it does occur to me every so often that maybe I shouldn't be buying into that hegemony. I've started using nonsense words, but every so often, I lapse.

[katherineokelly.livejournal.com]

I'm not trying to criticize, btw. I just know you're more aware of your word choice than most, so I wanted to ask your thoughts.

And although "cultural Christianity" is a problematic reality in our culture, the use of "Jesus!" or "OMG" is an offensive expletive to the Christians I know. "Do not take the Lord's name in vain" is one of the Ten Commandments, right up there with "Do not murder," so it's a no-no in the faith, just like eating pork to a Jew. Just so you know, when people say "Jesus!" and "God!" as a meaningless interjection, it's more likely to make a Christian cringe at disrespect for her god. She's not thinking, "Yeah! Our influence is spreading!" The origins of "Jesus!" and "God!" as interjections were as a blasphemy/curse word; it's disrespectful rather than honoring to the faith.

[fantasyecho.livejournal.com]

I've heard that argument before as well. I've never quite groked with it; Christianity is a major religion, and its presence within sudden exclamations is a sign of its hegemony and how normal it is to invoke the Christian God than any other religious figure, so in light of the privileges Christians receive in mainstream, I rarely have much sympathy with the argument in itself. I do try to substitute the exclamations, and I generally disapprove of certain terms which specifically use religiousity as a definite negative (such as "Jesus freaks").

I've always wondered about "Do not take the Lord's name in vain" - what's the spirit behind it, in terms of societal ethics?

[katherineokelly.livejournal.com]

Just because a religion is in the mainstream and experiences privilege, I hope you don't take that as free reign to be insensitive or disrespectful to those for whom the faith is more than a cultural thing.

...sudden exclamations is a sign of its hegemony and how normal it is to invoke the Christian God than any other religious figure

That's may how it looks to someone outside the faith, but as I already said, the roots of using "Jesus" and "God" as interjections come from using it as a curse word. It's slamming Christianity, not honoring it. You can see the historic roots of this in movies like "The Messenger" in which Joan of Arc is deeply offended when a soldier says "God" or "Jesus" in the flip way it's used today. It was, and still is, considered profanity to Christians. People aren't using these terms to invoke God, they're using it in the same context that someone would say damn/shit/fuck. In no way is Christianity elevated by the widespread use of these terms. The popularity of these expressions is directly related to the popularity of profanity in general.

I've always wondered about "Do not take the Lord's name in vain" - what's the spirit behind it, in terms of societal ethics?

See, this is why you rock. I appreciate that you would ask instead of just assuming.

To make sure I'm grounded in reality rather than just my own opinion, I'll quote directly from the religious text:
Matthew 22:35-40 (http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=matthew%2022:34-40&version=NIV)
One of [the religious conservatives], an expert in the law, tested [Jesus] with this question:

"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."

When Jesus talks about "the law", he means all the thousands of legalistic dogmatic rules of how to live, what to eat, how to dress that are described in books like Leviticus. Here, Jesus is saying that if you dedicate your utmost to 1) Love God and 2) Love your neighbor, the entire law is summed up in these two commandments. In other words, loving God and loving your neighbor takes the place of all the rigid dogma that came before it.

It's not legalism that matters, but your attitude towards loving God and loving others. That's why I think Jesus is fantastic, and why I believe he loves gays equally to straights. If there ever was a taboo placed on homosexual practice, it was lifted at the same time that eating shellfish and pork became okay. It's about the heart, not dogmatic law.

But we [Christians] are to honor and love God just as we're called to honor and love one another. Using God's name without actually meaning to call on him, or using it in the same context as a curse ("Jesus, it's cold!"/"Shit, it's cold!") is dishonoring a Person who deserves better than that kind of flippancy or slander.

Another translation is, "Do no misuse the name of the LORD." But most Bibles say, ‘Do not use the name of the LORD in vain.’ The word "vain" here is the Hebrew word shav. It has a variety of translations including emptiness, vanity, falsehood, nothingness, emptiness of speech, lying, and worthlessness. To misuse God's name means literally, "to lift it up to or attach it to emptiness."

God's name only honored when it's spoken in sincerity. ("Jesus, please forgive me." "God, please heal my dad's cancer.") It shows faith, respect, and trust. You're acknowledging God as a real Person, not just a hollow catch phrase. Using his name flippantly or as a curse, makes it empty and meaningless (shav), further diluting an already tragically culture-muddied faith.

I know you've probably been hurt by Christian hegemony in your life, but I hope you can still respect a Christian's desire to keep that name sacred, if for no other reason, just out of religious respect. I can't picture you serving beef to Hindus, or mocking Jews for keeping Kosher, so I hope you can at least appreciate a Christian's desire to keep God's name sincere instead of shav--hollow.

[fantasyecho.livejournal.com]

("Jesus, it's cold!"/"Shit, it's cold!")

That definitely puts things into perspective for me. I don't put stock in gods (I believe Jesus was most likely a real person, but I try to keep that separate from any theology) so until recently, "Do not take the Lord's name in vain" wouldn't have mattered much to me.

In Islam and Judaism, many of the laws serve as guidelines for healthy living (kosher / halal laws are in place to ensure food is as clean as it could be; so they ensure more care is placed into the treatment of animals during slaughter than an average slaughterhouse) as well as maintaining awareness of one's own food. Which is why I asked - "Do not murder" is pretty straightforward in keeping society in check.

"Do not take the Lord's name in vain" though... not so much. But, seeing as I can respect five times a day for Muslim prayer as a way to stop and remember God, I can also appreciate the idea of not throwing around an important name.

Like I said, I'll lapse here and there (I still stumble out problematic language every day) but feel free to call me out on it when you see it =) It's an ongoing process.

[katherineokelly.livejournal.com]

♥ Thanks for hearing me out.

feel free to call me out on it when you see it
Naw,I not trying to police you. It's Christians themselves who should be careful to avoid taking God's name in vain. I was only clarifying to say that the predominant use of use of "Christ/God/bloody/Jesus" as expletives are not something that a Christian would celebrate, but cringe at.

And certainly some atheists hone in on that point to be deliberately hurtful and disrespectful to people of faith like this online comment I recently ran across:
I'm an athiest and I often say "Jesus crunching Christ" or "Creaking Christ!" or "Christing Hell!". If I hit my thumb with a hammer, for example, I might say "Jesus Christ! My Christing thumb! I hit my thumb with the Christing hammer!"

If i don't believe something, I usually call it 'Christballs'

[fantasyecho.livejournal.com]

Goodness, yes. I hate it when I hear "Jesus freak". It's fine if a Christian is using it for themselves, but when it's used as a derogatory term, not so much. It makes as much sense as "Muslim freak" as an insult.

I occasionally use nonsensical sounds derived from the words, like "geez" and "cripes". But the spirit remains the same. I guess there is something in me about crying out to a divine being in times of frustration or great feeling that I can't shake, no matter how much of an unbeliever I am.

[caitlin-chan.livejournal.com]

Hey now, it's only impossible to get sympathy from us bluenosers when you're complaining about the cold! If someone dies and people find out, you get food up the wazoo. Even if the person who has died has never been seen, met, or heard of before then. XD