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Cojuanco
Guest
Say, if one says “my gosh” instead of “my God,” or “guidenabbit” instead of “God damn it” - is it still blasphemy?
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puzzleannie
Guest
so you are saying a nonsense word, usually out of emotion or frustration. Is your intent to blaspheme? then there is no sin. Sin requires intent and free will.
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cathdoki
Guest
That’s absolutely correct. Even if you did say “Oh my God” out shock or excitement, it’s still not blaspheme.
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Moscati
Guest
I personally “dagnabbit”–it’s rather charming, at least when my grandfather says it. Other favorites (I live in the South) include “land o’ goshen”, “lordy, lordy”, and “well, i’ll be a monkey’s uncle”.
What could possibly be blasphemous about monkeys?
My parents are very, very conservative evangelicals still, and I remember getting in trouble for saying something “sucked”. “Stunk” or “stinks” was fine, as was ‘cr*p’, but “sucks” was somehow very very bad.
It’s silly.
What could possibly be blasphemous about monkeys?
My parents are very, very conservative evangelicals still, and I remember getting in trouble for saying something “sucked”. “Stunk” or “stinks” was fine, as was ‘cr*p’, but “sucks” was somehow very very bad.
It’s silly.
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cathdoki
Guest
Another good one is what my elderly neighbor in the south used to say:I personally “dagnabbit”–it’s rather charming, at least when my grandfather says it. Other favorites (I live in the South) include “land o’ goshen”, “lordy, lordy”, and “well, i’ll be a monkey’s uncle”.
What could possibly be blasphemous about monkeys?
My parents are very, very conservative evangelicals still, and I remember getting in trouble for saying something “sucked”. “Stunk” or “stinks” was fine, as was ‘cr*p’, but “sucks” was somehow very very bad.
It’s silly.
“good day in the morning!”
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Waiting
Guest
I feel that if God’s name is used habitually – carelessly – that a venial sin is likely the result, even if no serious insult is intended. If all in heaven and on earth are to bend the knee or bow at the name of Jesus, then surely we cannot take the name of God or His son lightly. We all have our favorite expressions of surprise or anger, maybe we need to deliberately choose a less offensive wording.
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WordGal
Guest
I’ve never heard of a “minced” oath, so I clicked this link to find out what that meant. I was glad I did ‘cause it really reminded me of my Dad and all the times he had to correct me for the unapproved words that I picked up and “brought home.”
In my bubblegum years (in the 60’s), I began a very short-lived habit of saying “Jeez”. Dad explained to me that was an irreverent reference to the name of Jesus Christ, it was a blasphemy, and I had to remove it from my vocabulary. Actually, when I started saying it, I didn’t know that, so it was a good thing he explained it to me.
I also tried out a few other words that made my Dad unhappy, like “crap”. Oh, boy, that one drove him crazy. He gave me a stern order that I was to substitute “good golly petunias” anytime I felt like some word that had been officially banished from my vocabulary was about to slip from my lips. If I slipped up, he’d give me a look, and I’d sheepishly say: “Uh, I meant good golly petunias. Sorry, Dad.”
And there was plenty of, “Now, what did your Dad tell you about that?” should I slip up in front of my mom, too.
Dad was a Nebraska farm boy from a big German Catholic family. I never heard an inappropriate oath or swear word out of him nor from my darling Grandpa. But they did have their exclamations that branded them as having grown up on a farm.
I’ll never forget the first time I heard my father yell such an exclamation. He was sitting with some menfolk smoking cigars on the porch, and they were having a contest on who could keep the longest ash column on the cigar. My Dad’s dropped off along with the hot ember right down on to his lap (in a precarious spot!), and he jumped up, frantically wiping it off, yelling: “Balls on a hefer!”
The other phrase he pulled out in dire situations was “teats on a bore!” I was never sure if I should be scandalized by this language. But then, I figured if my Dad was saying it, it must be okay. (These phrases just don’t seem to work for your average city folk.
)
Some other popular exclamations in our family were:
Criminently! (exasperation)
Well, I’ll be doggled! (puzzlement and surprise)
For Heavens sake! (Universal mom-ism)
For crying in the sink! (I’ve never heard anybody else say this outside our family.)
More on point to the post, the traditional intent in my family of saying phrases like “Oh, my God” or “Dear Lord in Heaven” was a response to hearing of or seeing something bad or unfortunate happen to someone, and it was more of a calling on God to begin a mental prayer of sorrow for the person involved. Sometimes accompanied by the Sign of the Cross.
Unfortunately, I have to say that I went through a phase as a parent of saying “Oh, my God” out of frustration and even anger with my kids (teens). I realized I had changed how I said this phrase. I said it with true anger in my voice at my kids as if I was cursing them. It had definitely morphed into something inappropriate and blasphemous, and I realized I was misusing the name of Our Father in Heaven and being a very bad example to my kids.
I took this to confession, and was absolutely surprised that the priest that day in the confessional (an elderly priest who lives in retirement at our parish) really gave me a stern talking to about this particular sin and let me know in no uncertain terms that it was a scandal to my kids. I literally removed those words used in that fashion from my vocabulary that day as a result of his talk with me. (I also apologized to my kids.)
It was not until later that I realized that my Father in Heaven, my Father/the priest, and my father/my Dad were all in the confessional that day teaching me (one more time) a lesson I really needed to be reminded of.
(I’m gonna let that final preposition just hang right there on the end where it belongs.)
In my bubblegum years (in the 60’s), I began a very short-lived habit of saying “Jeez”. Dad explained to me that was an irreverent reference to the name of Jesus Christ, it was a blasphemy, and I had to remove it from my vocabulary. Actually, when I started saying it, I didn’t know that, so it was a good thing he explained it to me.
I also tried out a few other words that made my Dad unhappy, like “crap”. Oh, boy, that one drove him crazy. He gave me a stern order that I was to substitute “good golly petunias” anytime I felt like some word that had been officially banished from my vocabulary was about to slip from my lips. If I slipped up, he’d give me a look, and I’d sheepishly say: “Uh, I meant good golly petunias. Sorry, Dad.”
And there was plenty of, “Now, what did your Dad tell you about that?” should I slip up in front of my mom, too.
Dad was a Nebraska farm boy from a big German Catholic family. I never heard an inappropriate oath or swear word out of him nor from my darling Grandpa. But they did have their exclamations that branded them as having grown up on a farm.
I’ll never forget the first time I heard my father yell such an exclamation. He was sitting with some menfolk smoking cigars on the porch, and they were having a contest on who could keep the longest ash column on the cigar. My Dad’s dropped off along with the hot ember right down on to his lap (in a precarious spot!), and he jumped up, frantically wiping it off, yelling: “Balls on a hefer!”
The other phrase he pulled out in dire situations was “teats on a bore!” I was never sure if I should be scandalized by this language. But then, I figured if my Dad was saying it, it must be okay. (These phrases just don’t seem to work for your average city folk.
)Some other popular exclamations in our family were:
Criminently! (exasperation)
Well, I’ll be doggled! (puzzlement and surprise)
For Heavens sake! (Universal mom-ism)
For crying in the sink! (I’ve never heard anybody else say this outside our family.)
More on point to the post, the traditional intent in my family of saying phrases like “Oh, my God” or “Dear Lord in Heaven” was a response to hearing of or seeing something bad or unfortunate happen to someone, and it was more of a calling on God to begin a mental prayer of sorrow for the person involved. Sometimes accompanied by the Sign of the Cross.
Unfortunately, I have to say that I went through a phase as a parent of saying “Oh, my God” out of frustration and even anger with my kids (teens). I realized I had changed how I said this phrase. I said it with true anger in my voice at my kids as if I was cursing them. It had definitely morphed into something inappropriate and blasphemous, and I realized I was misusing the name of Our Father in Heaven and being a very bad example to my kids.
I took this to confession, and was absolutely surprised that the priest that day in the confessional (an elderly priest who lives in retirement at our parish) really gave me a stern talking to about this particular sin and let me know in no uncertain terms that it was a scandal to my kids. I literally removed those words used in that fashion from my vocabulary that day as a result of his talk with me. (I also apologized to my kids.)
It was not until later that I realized that my Father in Heaven, my Father/the priest, and my father/my Dad were all in the confessional that day teaching me (one more time) a lesson I really needed to be reminded of.
(I’m gonna let that final preposition just hang right there on the end where it belongs.
)
M
Moscati
Guest
This is a good point. I feel like “O my God!” is a perfectly acceptable response to the news that a friend has been in a car accident, or something like that. It’s more of a prayer.
“O my God!” said in anger or sarcastically with rolling eyes is not the same thing. (And I should work on it.
)
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Pug
Guest
It sounds like a deliberate attempt to avoid a reference to God, actually. One starts with “Oh my God” and realizes half way through the phrase that one wishes to change it, so it transmutes it into “Oh my Go…sh.” Gosh is some word that means nothing, and is substituted so that you specifically don’t mean God. Not that I think most people who use certain exclamations actually intend anything related to God or whatever the words seem to imply. They are probably expressing an emotion using the habits they have learned from listening to others. The words, to them, mean the emotion only. Especially if the words are disguised. When younger, I had no idea Golly was a substitute for God. So clearly using the word has nothing to do with God if you have no idea you are supposedly saying God with the word.
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LilyM
Guest
Many Jews and Christians have a habit of writing G-d instead of fully spelling the sacred name of the deity - with the intent of AVOIDING using it lightly or vainly, in other words avoiding blasphemy.
I think saying ‘Gosh’ or ‘Jeepers’ achieves the same thing, and so is perfectly acceptable. The intent is the opposite of the intent of a blasphemer and, I think, a good and sinless one.
I think saying ‘Gosh’ or ‘Jeepers’ achieves the same thing, and so is perfectly acceptable. The intent is the opposite of the intent of a blasphemer and, I think, a good and sinless one.
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Newbie2
Guest
Methinks it has to do with intent.
Having said that, there are those like Yours Truly who are searching for an “intermediate” term to replace the knee-jerk, used-only-when-I’m-really-angry-but-nontheless-sinful expression “God Damn it”.
Since “God” is the first word out, I’ve tried to find a phonetically similar benign phrase. I’ve “experimented” with such things as “God save Ireland”, which always gets me to laugh at myself because I’m not Irish.
Recently, I had an experience that demonstrated how one must be careful in using the GD it phrase. Working on a stuck, rusted bolt on the underside of a filthy car in stifling heat and humidity, when I shouted to the Almighty to damn this particular bolt…and he did so. It broke off, necessitating a trip to the store to buy a new drill bit and new drill motor, since none of my bits are sharp and my drill motor is on the fritz, and added another 2 hours to the exhaust pipe replacement job.
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Eklecktika
Guest
Having grown up on a cattle ranch, the phrase balls on a heifer tickled me.
I too was gotten after severely for ‘sucks’ & ‘jeez’. Somewhere along the line, after having worked for multiple trainiers, the phrase ‘worthless as socks on a rooster’ or perhaps a little more crude-‘worthless as **** on a boarhog’ came to be known.
I suspect that, if one uses a word like Gosh, golly, petunias, cats, dice, piglets, whatever, for the EXPRESS purpose of AVOIDING taking the name of the Lord in vain, mission accomplished and it’s not a sin.
I too was gotten after severely for ‘sucks’ & ‘jeez’. Somewhere along the line, after having worked for multiple trainiers, the phrase ‘worthless as socks on a rooster’ or perhaps a little more crude-‘worthless as **** on a boarhog’ came to be known.
I suspect that, if one uses a word like Gosh, golly, petunias, cats, dice, piglets, whatever, for the EXPRESS purpose of AVOIDING taking the name of the Lord in vain, mission accomplished and it’s not a sin.
N
Neil_Anthony
Guest
I don’t know about the exact answer to your question, but you should go one step deeper, and ask, why do I want to avoid blasphemy?
You should avoid blasphemy because you want God to be respected, because you love God so much. So, you want to avoid anything that trivializes or dishonours God.
If you really want to call upon God to help with some bad situation, then say “oh my God” and don’t mince it. If it’s just an expression, come up with something that’s completely different. That’s what I would do anyway.
To see why its important, think of an example that makes you or a loved one the brunt of an “expression”, and then change it a bit and see if it still bugs you. For example, if I said to you “gosh darn you to heck, you stompin idjit” would that be okay with you, because I didn’t actually say what I meant? LOL
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ALLGIRLS
Guest
My husband stumbled upon a Fundamentalist website once that stated that basically, all of those phrases are still sins, as you’re just saying them in place of taking God’s name in vain, so “in your heart”, you’re still blaspheming 
. This guy even purposely called out Charlie Brown yes, mentioned him by name, and condemned Charles Schultz to hell for writing it, for saying “Good grief!” 
My question for those who feel that way is, so, are you saying it’s a sin to express any frustration at all in life? What EXACTLY are we supposed to say when we bash our toe on a doorjam or thumb with a hammer? Sometimes just “ouch” doesn’t cut it. I’m thinking he was basically saying it’s a sin to be angry or frustrated.
In Christ,
Ellen
. This guy even purposely called out Charlie Brown yes, mentioned him by name, and condemned Charles Schultz to hell for writing it, for saying “Good grief!” My question for those who feel that way is, so, are you saying it’s a sin to express any frustration at all in life? What EXACTLY are we supposed to say when we bash our toe on a doorjam or thumb with a hammer? Sometimes just “ouch” doesn’t cut it. I’m thinking he was basically saying it’s a sin to be angry or frustrated.In Christ,
Ellen
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Kingbear
Guest
A commonly unknown fact is many “ordinary” curse words originated from blasphemy.
Blo*dy, was once “By Our lady”
Struth originates from “Gods Truth”
as does Swounds and many others.
In Matthew 12:31 31 Jesus says “And so I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven”.
Just because the sin of blasphemy might be forgiven, this is not a open cheque to use words abominal to the Lord.
Blasphemy subtley lets disrespect seep in. How many people here would forgive such disrespect if used against them?
Blo*dy, was once “By Our lady”
Struth originates from “Gods Truth”
as does Swounds and many others.
In Matthew 12:31 31 Jesus says “And so I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven”.
Just because the sin of blasphemy might be forgiven, this is not a open cheque to use words abominal to the Lord.
Blasphemy subtley lets disrespect seep in. How many people here would forgive such disrespect if used against them?
T
Tom_Morford
Guest
Some very late views to propose: (as this just came up again last night).
“Oh my God!” can be a prayer for strength in a spiritually overwhelming circumstance.
But certainly be abused, if used to react to your girlfriend’s new handbag (OMG!).
And of course “God” is not God’s name, but to those who know that there is only one true God, then the result is the same as the name.
And I always considered that to show disrespect to the Holy Spirit was to cut off one’s own resource to forgiveness, and thereby making doing that, unforgivable by the same action.
Thoughts or maybe corrections?
“Oh my God!” can be a prayer for strength in a spiritually overwhelming circumstance.
But certainly be abused, if used to react to your girlfriend’s new handbag (OMG!).
And of course “God” is not God’s name, but to those who know that there is only one true God, then the result is the same as the name.
And I always considered that to show disrespect to the Holy Spirit was to cut off one’s own resource to forgiveness, and thereby making doing that, unforgivable by the same action.
Thoughts or maybe corrections?
T
thistle
Guest
NO.
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