Is saying "Oh my Gosh/Goodness" blasphemy?

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Yes, and I know some Catholics who cry out “Mary, Jesus, and Joseph!” when surprised or upset. I don’t care for it, but I think so much has to do with intention and culture. Let’s not be quick to judge, especially over nonsense euphemisms. Euphemisms are said by people trying to avoid blasphemy. And I think the commandment is referring to those who misuse God’s name or actually speak blasphemy against Him.
 
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I don’t say it because it is unnecessary and it feels disrespectful to me. There are so many other words in our vocabulary to choose from to express how we are feeling at any given moment. It is my preference to lovingly reserve God’s name for my prayer time rather than casually throwing it around. That’s the least I can do to show my love and respect.
 
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No, I don’t think so. I say that out of charity. It can become a careless habit so much so that your heart becomes hardened towards what you are actually saying. Think of a Saint you admire, then picture that Saint casually and continuously saying “OMG” or “Jeez” (derogatory term for Jesus). Does it fit? I’m not saying that they never blurted out anything like that without thinking. But I’m saying you are here asking this question and making a conscious decision on how you will carry your speech in the future. I encourage you to consider making use of other words to express yourself when possible. I’m not talking about in a moment of fright or pain when you just blurt something out. I’m talking about in the course of normal conversation when you have control and foreknowledge of what you are about to say.
 
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Oh, jeez. I know that. As I said, irrelevant.

Harmless.

No argument - just the fact that hair splitting and feeding the scruples of some poor folks on CAF is just uncalled for.
 
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Charlie Brown said good grief, and I echo his words after reading some of these comments.
lol
Wonder if he meant good God? Should I stop reading Peanuts now? Oh wait, that would be a good topic for a new thread.
Again, good grief.
 
My only intent is to educate. Not everyone knows the origin of the expression or is comfortable repeating it once they know.
 
Pup7 said:
Then “gee” as in “gee whiz” is equally bad because you might be using that as a substitute.
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I have seen some people say that pretty much any exclamation of surprise or frustration is either profanity or blasphemy either by being overt or substitutionary. They make no distinction whatsoever between a person that says “Oh my gosh!” and “Fudge!” versus saying the less acceptable alternatives.
 
No. Those words are substitutions to make breaking the habit of saying “oh my God” inappropriately.

As for the second commandment, it’s actually reflected in the Our Father as well in “Hallowed be thy name.” When I was studying scripture, I was told that to be holy means to be set aside. So we should be reserving God’s name for holy matters, not trivial ones. I personally consider it prideful to use God’s name in situations where you wouldn’t want people to use your own. If someone stubs their toe on the side walk, you wouldn’t want them to say “(insert your own name here) damn it,” right?
 
Here’s a quote from an old book, Questions of Catholics Answered, by W. Herbst.
"…expressions like “darn it”… etc., are not exactly nice words to say, being perhaps reminiscent of certain forms of profanity, but they are not curse words and are not sinful.

"To say “O hell” or “the devil,” or even “damn it,” without any particular reference, are not curse words either, just inelegant, unbecoming, vulgar expressions.

“But “Go to hell!” or “Go to the devil!” if meant, are real curses.”
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So everything I was posting was being moderated, and usually that means it’s not approved. LOL just wanted folks to know I’m not repeating myself. 🤣🤣
 
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ndmoharo said:
No. Those words are substitutions to make breaking the habit of saying “oh my God” inappropriately.

As for the second commandment, it’s actually reflected in the Our Father as well in “Hallowed be thy name.” When I was studying scripture, I was told that to be holy means to be set aside. So we should be reserving God’s name for holy matters, not trivial ones. I personally consider it prideful to use God’s name in situations where you wouldn’t want people to use your own. If someone stubs their toe on the side walk, you wouldn’t want them to say “(insert your own name here) damn it,” right?
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Apples to oranges, ndmoharo. Huge difference in that particular phrase and pretty much everything else one could say. You’re feeding scruples. Not one soul here has advocated that phrase nor said that that is okay.

“Oh my gosh” is not sending you straight to Satan.

No, that wouldn’t bother me. I’d probably crack up laughing. I’ve never really been a fan of my first name anyway.
 
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Get a dictionary:

blas·phe·my

/ˈblasfəmē/

noun

noun: blasphemy; plural noun: blasphemies

the act or offense of speaking sacrilegiously about God or sacred things; profane talk.
“he was detained on charges of blasphemy”

synonyms: profanity, sacrilege, irreligion, irreverence, taking the Lord’s name in vain, swearing, curse, cursing, impiety, desecration; archaicexecration
“the nuns would punish me at least three times a week for my blasphemy”

I’m done here
 
GG_Gecko said:
Hi there, fellow Catholics/Christians!

I’ve recently found out that some Catholics consider saying “Oh my Gosh!” or “Oh my Goodness!” blasphemy. I’ve said this quite often, and I would like to ask if this is really true and would like to have a definitive answer to this question.

Edit: Is it a sin? If so, is it a Mortal sin?

God bless,
  • Cecilia.
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I don’t know about Catholics thinking either of those are blasphemy. But a teacher I knew who was a member of the Church Of Christ said they were. Funny, she didn’t think saying, “Oh my golly gosh” was blasphemy.🤔
 
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