Is saying "Oh my Gosh/Goodness" blasphemy?

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Because you keep calling the question. I personally don’t care and will continue to gosh and darn with abandon.
 
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More stuff from Liguori. There’s an interesting back and forth, about how high the bar for mortal sin is, and why Church teaching on cussing is sometimes oversimplified.
"To this, another general rule adds that, for something to be condemned as a serious sin, some serious malice must be in it. Indeed, it is expressly taught about blasphemies [in cited sources] that if one is in doubt whether something is or is not blasphemy, it should be assumed to be not blasphemy at all.

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[Discussion of how cursing a dead body is not blasphemy.]

"But beyond this point, I appreciate the value of all those works in which confessors and preachers take sedulous care to instruct uneducated people to count [cursing a dead body] to be a mortal sin; lest all souls should perish miserably in mortal sin, out of ignorance from their erring conscience. Nor would I forbear to say that, because of this news, there will be more frequent abuses of this malediction.

"For it is answered that it is better for innumerable venial sins to be permitted, than one mortal sin.

“And I say, “If only such ignorant people would abstain from the said curse, out of a horror at serious sin!” It is bad that they did not cease from a weakness because of conscience, until they thought it was a serious sin; and instead of being converted, they may be damned on account of ignorance.”
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Many people don’t realize the origins of phrases like ‘hocus pocus’ which is thought to be a corruption of the words of institution, ‘hoc est corpus meum’ and gadzooks which is from ‘gods hooks’ (god’s nails). If you look into common phrases you find a lot of them are ways of avoiding direct blasphemy.
rondirect said:
To a gasp of some, he actually said the common substitute for a very nasty curse word.
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One problem we have is our culture really hates (or did until recently the ‘f’ word) but doesn’t mind causal profanity such as ‘oh my God’. So the ‘f’ word shocks but ‘oh my God’ gets no notice.
 
An f-bomb is just a word, as well. Uncouth, but just a word.

The word’s root is 16th century or so Germanic, meaning “to strike”.

The connotation, however, is far different.

Again, not endorsing use in the least - I just find etymology interesting.
 
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exnihilo said:
Many people don’t realize the origins of phrases like ‘hocus pocus’ which is thought to be a corruption of the words of institution, ‘hoc est corpus meum’
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That’s been debated for ages. Also harmless. There’s also a school of etymological thought that thinks that’s mere legend and the phrase is just made up.
 
Everything we say is just a word. But words have power. That is why saying the name of Jesus has power. It is also why saying it wrongly is a sin.

There is nothing intrinsic about the ‘f’ word that makes it wrong. We as a society decide what will be vulgar terms. Why we do this is an interesting topic. It seems to me we want to have words that can show our disdain for individuals, society or religion. Then we can either chose to or chose not to use them. It is a sort of test or proof.
 
If all such phrases were taking the Lord’s name in vain, I seriously doubt that this rather well-known child prodigy could have uttered such a phrsse in cinema.


The Lord knows your heart and its intention. Taking the Lord’s name in vain has become so endemic in our culture that these softened phrases are counter-cultural, which also fairly describes our Lord.
 
Exactly - and you’re right about words having power.

It amazes me how that happens.

And sometimes it’s cultural. There is a particular word that is likely The Worst Word One Can Say here in the US, and in the UK, it’s on par with far milder epithets. I know that, but I had to explain it to a few Brits I know.
 
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…or that the censors of the day would’ve let it slide!!

That was the era in which GWTW was banned in US theaters for its most famous line…
 
po18guy said:
If all such phrases were taking the Lord’s name in vain, I seriously doubt that this rather well-known child prodigy could have uttered such a phrsse in cinema.
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Hold on. You’re using Hollywood to make a moral claim!!! In fifty years they’ll be able to prove same sex marriage and transgenderism are good.

I’m assuming you are saying there was a more holy time in cinema. That is true. But they have also always pushed the boundaries. Some things become more acceptable because of popular culture via Hollywood’s influence. And the real, behind the scenes Hollywood was always a cesspool.
po18guy said:
The Lord knows your heart and its intention. Taking the Lord’s name in vain has become so endemic in our culture that these softened phrases are counter-cultural, which also fairly describes our Lord.
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That is a fair point.
 
What I’m sayin’ folks. What is in your heart?

Even “good grief” can be massaged into some form of unacceptable speech.

Can’t say “jeepers”
Can’t say “Jiminy Christmas”
Cant say “Jeepers Creepers”
Can’t say…
 
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po18guy said:
Even “good grief” can be massaged into some form of unacceptable speech.
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Well, let’s see here…you have one 4 letter “s” word here and another 4 letter “f” word here. What are you really saying? LOL!
 
rondirect said:
There are subs for many other 4 letter words as well, but what is really on your mind as you say them?
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Speaking as someone who never was in the habit of using four letter words, I can tell you that what is on my mind is the substitute word, not the word it is replacing. If I say “Oh fudge”, I am not thinking of the f-word because that is a word I would simply never say.

I think arguing that people using euphemisms are, of course, thinking of the bad words to begin with is stretching it. Maybe some people are, but certainly not all. My children—who do not use the “real thing” because they don’t hear people using it—who might say “Oh my goodness” are not thinking blasphemous thoughts nor is that anywhere in their mind.
 
Joe_5859 said:
My children—who do not use the “real thing” because they don’t hear people using it—who might say “Oh my goodness” are not thinking blasphemous thoughts nor is that anywhere in their mind.
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I don’t dispute that and that is great that they don’t have such associations. But it could be like abortion. A woman could have an abortion. The act itself is grave matter, but she might think it is perfectly fine. When she commits the act she isn’t thinking it is wrong. That doesn’t make the act right.

But the main thing with children is they, until a certain age, are just repeating what they hear. However, at a certain age once you hear people say ‘oh my (whatever)’ you understand ‘oh my goodness’ is a substitute for ‘oh my God’.
 
You are going well off course with that.

Saying darn isn’t remotely near aborting a baby.
 
At least, God knows whether the person using the phrase means it in a blasphemous way or not. We shouldn’t assume that because one utters His Name that it is always meant as blasphemy.

I tend to say, “Oh God” a lot. And when I do, I don’t mean it as blasphemy. I’m usually in pain or something when I do it and asking God to help me with whatever the issue is.

On the other hand, my former neighbor would utter the same phrase and was swearing. She admitted that she did it because that’s what they did in her family. She thought it was funny when I reprimanded her for taking God’s Name in vain. For me, He is not a cuss word. And I mean business when I say that anyone who treats Him as such in my presence is going to get called on it by me.

It’s a parent’s duty to reprimand a child and give that child an alternate word or phrase to use. But adults know what they are doing and whether or not they mean it in a bad way or not.
 
Wonderful truth and spiritual wisdom here. Probably the best reply yet.
 
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