Is saying "Oh my Gosh/Goodness" blasphemy?

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Pup7 said:
I’m married to a Brit. I know this. Profane doesn’t equal blasphemy, for one. Two, for the love of Pete, this isn’t a big deal, and you’re feeding scruples. Why, I have no idea.
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Blasphemy is profane language.

You think it isn’t a big deal. I think it is something we need to not do. It isn’t feeding scruples. Pointing out what is sinful is what we are obliged to do. It is a spiritual work of mercy. The gravity of the sin is, like any other, dependent on many factors.

I’ve heard orthodox priests I respect point out saying ‘oh my God’ is a violation of the second commandment. Lots of people say that, even Catholics, so there is a tendency to not make anything of it. That doesn’t make it right.
 
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Nope. Blasphemy is quite specific.

Blasphemy - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org

So “darn it” and “oh crap!” and the other words for poo (most words and phrases, actually) aren’t blasphemous, unless they have some connection to God I’m not aware of.
 
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Pup7 said:
Nope. Blasphemy is quite specific.
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To profane is to treat something sacred with contempt. Generally blasphemy is profane language. But it could have a broader meaning.
Pup7 said:
So “darn it” and “oh crap!” and the other words for poo (most words and phrases, actually) aren’t blasphemous, unless they have some connection to God I’m not aware of.
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Darn it is a minced oath for damning. We shouldn’t curse things or people. Of course ‘oh crap’ isn’t blasphemous.
Pup7 said:
It.

Is not.

A sin.
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Blasphemy isn’t a sin? That is news to me.
 
You know what I mean. Saying crap and darn isn’t sinful. It’s not even blasphemous. Not even CLOSE.
 
No it really isn’t.

Look, if you go as a tourist to Florence and want to buy a gift for your maiden great-Aunt, you might have the option of buying a little replica of Michelangelo’s David with a fig leaf covering the genitalia.

Those who know anything about art know very well that the real statue of David doesn’t have no fig leaf …

By your logic your maiden great-Aunt should be mortally offended at the fig-leaf-clad David, because it’s clearly a pharisaical effort to ‘get away with’ an otherwise at least possibly sinful depiction of a male nude.

Except it is no such thing. The intent, in both cases, is to avoid rather than ‘get away with’ sin. If someone wants to swear, they’ll do it. If they want to scandalise a family member with a nude statue, they won’t bother with the fig leaf.

In both cases 99.999 percent of people won’t care about or be offended by the substitute, so there would be no point using a minced oath or a fig leaf if ones intent truly were sinful.
 
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Crap isn’t blasphemy. Darn is, or more accurately it is a curse. Even if you don’t think it is blasphemy you have to at least realize it is close. ‘Darn it’ is very close to ‘da** it’. That is the point. You could say ‘grilled cheese sandwich’ and then it wouldn’t be close or blasphemy.
LilyM said:
Except it is no such thing. The intent, in both cases, is to avoid rather than ‘get away with’ sin. If someone wants to swear, they’ll do it. If they want to scandalise a family member with a nude statue, they won’t bother with the fig leaf.
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I would liken the fig leaf to just not saying anything, which is an option.

Words are symbols. A minced oath is choosing a symbol because it closely resembles another symbol. Lots of other symbols could be chosen that don’t resemble the other symbol. But a choice is made for the symbol that resembles the other symbol. Why is that?
 
Words are indeed symbols. So can a fig leaf be, due for example to the biblical references to Adam and Eve covering their nakedness with fig leaves.

So what exactly does a minced oath symbolise? Surely not an intent to blaspheme - as I said earlier someone wanting to blaspheme would simply use the correct word. Rather, as the fig leaf symbolises covering nakedness so that it is no longer offensive, minced oaths symbolise, if anything, modesty and respect rather than disdain for words that are too sacred to be casually used.

True, one can choose to say nothing. And Adam and Eve could have chosen to wear burkas that covered them head to toe. But fig leaves were all that was necessary. And I would suggest minced oaths are also sufficient.
 
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Minced oaths symbolize blasphemy without using the actual word. They call to mind the same blasphemous idea. It’s just like if I yelled out ‘Iesus Christus’ after I hit my hand with a hammer. You’d immediately think ‘Jesus Christ’. Would it be OK to say ‘Iesus Christus’ in that circumstance? It doesn’t mean anything in English.
 
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exnihilo said:
It’s just like if I yelled out ‘Iesus Christus’ after I hit my hand with a hammer. You’d immediately think ‘Jesus Christ’. Would it be OK to say ‘Iesus Christus’ in that circumstance? It doesn’t mean anything in English.
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No, I’d immediately think and maybe say ”Are you OK?”

Point is, if you are calling on God when hurting yourself, minced yourself and the oath both, how could that be blasphemy? You are in essence praying in spontaneous words.
 
This is a very good point no matter where we stand on the issue. Jesus Christ is still our God and there are certainly times in which crying out his name is appropriate and is neither done in vain nor blasphemously.

I was raised by a father whose ideas about this stuff were pretty much in line with @exnihilo’s. I was taught to never say “Oh my gosh” due to the obvious connection to the more vain use of God’s title. I was never taught that it’s always wrong to say it. Moreover I was always allowed to use the real deal over the minced oath if it was a genuine ejaculation. Not “omg” because Becky said something funny, but “Oh my God!” because I’m in pain, or because something just happened before my eyes and I don’t know how to process it. There’s nothing wrong with having emotions, and there’s nothing wrong with crying out to God.
 
‘Gosh’ or ‘golly’ have only ever, in any dictionary I’ve ever seen, been described as euphemisms for the name of God.

A euphemism is a deliberately polite and respectful expression, one designed to be inoffensive and which in reality IS inoffensive.

For example, one can perfectly properly ask the Queen of England to direct one to the powder room or the facilities, whereas to ask to use the.john or the can would be inappropriate. Because ‘powder room’ and ‘facilities’ are euphemisms and perfectly appropriate to say to anyone in any situation, whereas ‘john’ and ‘can’ are crude slang best avoided in polite company.

See.the difference?
 
LilyM said:
See.the difference?
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Going along with this analogy, the difference, I believe (and correct me if I’m wrong @exnihilo), is that he thinks it’s wrong to speak of the toilet at all in any capacity because all of it is blasphemous. You do not say “God” or “Jesus” or any euphemism for the two unless you actually intend to speak of the Holy Trinity and/or Our Lord. Any and all other use is blasphemous.

I don’t agree with this, but it’s not exactly a scarce interpretation of the 2nd Commandment by some Christians.
 
I’m saying if Gosh/Goodness is blasphemy, I already know that “oh my God” is bad. I just want to know if Goodness or Gosh is blasphemy
 
I was always taught to say gosh or goodness or golly instead of using God’s name in vain.
I do remember when I was in 2nd grade, a friend of mine told me that you shouldn’t say them because they are euphemisms. However, her family was rather interesting and thought Halloween was sinful. They were Christians and had a home church but then they celebrated Hanukkah and other Jewish customs like blowing a shofar out into the neighborhood. They weren’t bad people but I was always a bit confused around them.
Anyway, my parents were always okay with me saying gosh and goodness and I’ve heard priests say them as well so I’d assume it’s okay. I think God knows we don’t mean to offend Him and His Holy Name by saying gosh. Maybe goodness is a better substitute since it is several letters away and a whole other meaning than gosh. I don’t know…
If it makes you uncomfortable, maybe find some of your own sayings to use instead!
 
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GG_Gecko said:
I’m saying if Gosh/Goodness is blasphemy, I already know that “oh my God” is bad. I just want to know if Goodness or Gosh is blasphemy
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No, unless you think it is. And if you do, that’s okay, you can choose not to say them.

I honestly think God has bigger fish to fry than this.
 
SnowRose said:
No, I’d immediately think and maybe say ”Are you OK?”

Point is, if you are calling on God when hurting yourself, minced yourself and the oath both, how could that be blasphemy? You are in essence praying in spontaneous words.
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If you are calling on God then it wouldn’t be. Most people who utter ‘Jesus Christ’ when they hit their hand with a hammer aren’t calling on God.
AlbertDerGrosse said:
There’s nothing wrong with having emotions, and there’s nothing wrong with crying out to God.
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No. But using God’s name commonly is profanity. It is treating something sacred with disrespect. Think about Jews who will write ‘G-d’ rather than write ‘God’.
LilyM said:
A euphemism is a deliberately polite and respectful expression, one designed to be inoffensive and which in reality IS inoffensive.
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Euphemisms express the same idea. So, if it is proper to say ‘oh my gosh’ then it is proper to say ‘oh my God’.
AlbertDerGrosse said:
Going along with this analogy, the difference, I believe (and correct me if I’m wrong @exnihilo), is that he thinks it’s wrong to speak of the toilet at all in any capacity because all of it is blasphemous. You do not say “God” or “Jesus” or any euphemism for the two unless you actually intend to speak of the Holy Trinity and/or Our Lord. Any and all other use is blasphemous.
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Precisely.
Pup7 said:
Still not blasphemous. Sorry, I’m unconvinced.
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It is a curse. We aren’t supposed to curse things.
 
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