Boss told me off for exclaiming Jesus Christ

I was referring the post I specifically quoted...

Everyone who thinks it's OK to blaspheme- teach your child to say "Jesus Christ" and tell them to say it as often as they can at school. And then see what their teacher thinks.

Personally I really like children's T-shirts with OMG on. It's like clothes designers for supermarkets were seeing how far they could push things.

I’m vegan and I see your point however ‘The Weeping Vegan’ is the coolest name for a butchers or even a vegan restaurant I have ever heard 😂

Don't be faux disingenuous: the phrase 'do-gooder' is very much a derogatory and insulting one, as you well know.

It's never, ever used in a positive or complimentary way to describe somebody with kind, noble or genuine charitable aims.

I still think it's very insensitive - and odd - to deliberately invoke the name of a God in whom you don't believe and which presumably means nothing at all to you as a throwaway expression, when you know that it will offend a great many people.

I've always though the same about Mecca bingo halls, too. I'm not a Muslim, but of all the millions of names they could have chosen, it seems crass and deliberately designed to cause offence to choose to name a large gambling company the same as the holy city of a religion that is strictly against gambling of all kinds.

It's not even just about religion; I'm an omnivore, but I would think that somebody opening a butcher's shop or steakhouse restaurant and opting to name it 'The Weeping Vegan' or similar was a nasty person who was deliberately seeking to wholly unnecessarily upset and offend a great many people with sincerely held beliefs.

It's not our choice, is it? It was someone's choice, a few centuries ago, and it's irrelevant now.

However England has the head of state as the head of church. It really is our official choice of Sunday sermon.

It's not much of an insult, is it? If you're genuinely upset by the incredibly common vernacular non swearing phrase "jesus Christ", you are in fact pious (a descriptive word which is in no way an insult). And I'm.not sure "do-gooder" can be counted as offensive, given that Christians, especially the pious ones, are supposed to do good.

I don't think complaining about other people's common speech usage is doing good though. Aren't you meant to be turning the other cheek and kissing your enemies etc?

Always the insults...

@SerendipityJane
I agree all or nothing. What we have at the moment is rules which vary - for example the issues in the school where a teacher for example are in hiding for offending one religion whilst some will be blaspheming and that is deemed to be non offensive. Consistency is important as it is the unequal treatment of different religions that caused people to become more resentful.

Or none.

It's equality we are after here.

I think you misquoted

I agree - if we apply the same rules and protection to religion then it must be to all religions.

People can be offended by whatever they like - their choice.

People can judge people for whatever they get offended about - their choice.

For myself, there is so much more to be "offended" about in life than a series of sounds evolved over thousands of generations to convey a nebulous and arcane concept of some sort of partisan deity that somehow directs human affairs. You may as well be offended by the colour shoes your local priest wears, or what your neighbour had for dinner last night. That's the level of "offence" it deserves.

Poverty ? Homelessness ? Violence against minorities ? These things offend me far more that what Bob just said.

"Imagine getting offended by blasphemy in this day and age"

Like a PP I'm from Northern Ireland. I started off Presbyterian but long ago lapsed into atheism. My workplace is quite good naturedly sweary (in the back, NOT in front of the clients) but I was brought up not to blaspheme and still try to refrain from doing it. There are a few proper church going staff members- including young ones in more junior positions than me - and I don't want to make them feel awkward. They wouldn't say anything but that's not the point.

Not to me it’s not and I’ll continue to use it. I don’t really care about offending religious people

We do actually. Don't be so ethnocentric, it's offensive

I refer you to my point upthread. I reckon that in an effort to ensure the upstart cult gained no traction, an undercover rival from another cult managed to sneak in a bit saying that your aren't a real Christian unless you go around telling everyone else that they should be a Christian - Matthew 28:19-20. (A bit like the way the modern vegan movement must have been infiltrated by carnivores).

Sadly the tactic underestimated the capacity of humans to put up with "anything for a quiet life" and a couple of millennia and countless internecine wars, here we are.

Unfortunately people have been murdered because of it in this day and age.

Well I wouldn’t use it either, in a formal situation but the word ‘blasphemy’ seems way over the top now. CofE, very, very lapsed. Atheist probably.

Just because something is no longer illegal (it still is NI), it doesn't mean that it can't be offensive. I am an atheist but still prefer to choose language to minimise causing offence to others. Being polite costs me nothing.

It does make me wince, as a Christian, as I don’t like Jesus’ name to be used in that way. But I would never pull someone up on it, as I understand that the person uttering the phrase isn’t doing it to cause offence to me. It’s become a cultural thing now.

Everyone saying it’s offensive or they’re offended by certain words - I implore you to watch this video because it articulates my point better than I ever could

Yes, I was just wondering how he’d react if a Muslim said El hamdulillah! (Sp) - - thanks be to God! - which we heard so often while living in Muslim countries.

Having said that, though, I don’t think Jesus Christ! is suitable for the workplace.

How about using Boris Johnson’s Crikey!! - and see who cringes at that. 😂