*I can stand when people blaspheme and say Ch*** as if its a swear word*

[Serendipity30]

I can stand when people blaspheme and say Ch* as if its a swear word do people think its cool?? People say they are tolerant of peoples faith but situations like that make me wonder I literally wince when people say it. I refuse to believe I ABU

Back off people and show a little respect. My DS gets upset if I blame his imaginary friend for stuff too.

"Then it works very well for its intended purpose."

Yes, it does. To all who deliberately do this, thanks very much for the offence and disrespect

It's the context and intention which count. There's mention in the Bible "that the name of our God and his doctrine be not blasphemed" and also that we shouldn't take the Lord's name in vain.

Popcorn, those who use it are trying deliberately to offend, albeit on a minor level.

Otherwise everybody would say 'bother' or 'crumbs'.

If there were no words which offended, then the English language would be incomplete.

The recent argument about the separation of church and state attracts a lot of "we can't separate them because the church has had such a strong influence on our culture". This is just the flip side of that. If religion is completely removed from the state, I promise not to blaspheme again.

babyheave

Breatheslowly - fair trade I would say! An eye for an eye and all that!

My daughter said yesterday that she knows something very bad is going down when she hears me say 'Christ on a bike!'

I say this instead of 'fucking shitting CUNT' when something is going spectacularly wrong as I am trying not to teach my daughter too many interesting words.

I can honestly say that I never gave it a moments thought if I was offending any Christians within earshot. I am venting frustrations verbally.

If by doing so I offend any Christians, I feel a teeny bit sorry, but only a teeny bit becuase daily Christians do many things which offend me and they never say sorry. They just wheel in Eric Pickles.

Pick your battles I think op.

Ah Christ, the OP will not be impressed to hear, then, that my 21mo has started exhorting "awww Gawwwwd" when frustrated with something not going his way. I know I should probably steer his swearing round to "oh GOSH" instead, as I do when I know I'm talking to a Christian, because I don't like to create a bad atmosphere ... Oopsies.

daily Christians do many things which offend me and they never say sorry

Well, bloody absolutely, Spero.

"It oughtn't to be blasphemy, just saying Jehovah!"

Thing is, they aren't just your special words. They aren't even special words just for your group. Or for everyone who considers themselves a Christian, or who was brought up Christian, or who was Christened but has never darkened the door of a church since. They are words that have become part of our overall culture over the best part of 2,000 years (who was the first Roman Emperor to convert, again? I forget).

You need to start getting offended over a whole load of other words you might not realise are connected to profanity. Like 'blimey' - said to come from 'God blind me' or something along those lines. Or 'bloody' - by God's blood, IIRC.

People don't tend to use words to do with Islam in the same way now, but give it a few hundred years and they might - there just hasn't been a critical mass of Muslims in the country for people to start using 'Allah' as an exclamation. Yet...

Can I swear by the right testicle (or tentacle) or the flying spaghetti monster, please?

Jehovah! Jehovah!

Ah, that brought back some happy memories.

that should be of the flying spaghetti monster. Obviously.

Swearing is supposed to be offensive. That's the point.

Swear words are mostly around taboos - scatological, reproductive or religious.

He's a big deity, he can probably look after himself.

(I know lots of hyper religious people, this being NI. Most of them use the words. Except the Really Proper Christians who Know They Are So Right that they have to do shouting through a megaphone on the promenade. And appalling singing. They are so convinced of their correctness that they would like to impose their lifestyle on all of the other people. But they must be very delicate, if people saying "Jesus" can upset them so very much. Especially when, as the ruling elite in NI, they have most of the money and most of the power. Oops, ranting, sorry.)

UANBU
I had this conversation with my DD and her friend (both Y6) the other night.
Friend came out with Christ type expression. Which surprised me since I'm certain her evangelical Father would not be impressed.
I think she was slightly surprised I pulled her up on it, but I explained that my DDs are not allowed to use those words either because I have friends it upsets.

People have been using Christian terms for swearing since at least the middle ages, and probably well before that. It's a sign of Christianity's success - something so powerful that controlled the lives of every person in this country, for good and evil, for more than 1,500 years.

You can choose to get all huffy about it now, if you like, but you are doomed to be disappointed. It's not that other religions get more respect, it's that they haven't been all-powerful for so many centuries. If the extremists get their way and manage to create a world-wide Caliphate, I'm sure everyone will be swearing in a very different way in a hundred years or so. (My Iranian friends tell me their national sense of humour is all about mad Mullah jokes.)

I wouldn't even know the words if the state hadn't forced me to learn about the bible at school. It isn't my fault!

Cassette - I genuinely have no thought in my mind about offending Christians when I say 'Christ on a bike!' It was something I heard growing up, it is something I repeat.

I am very grateful that I live in a country where Christians just moan about it on internet forums rather than having me stoned to death. You should be grateful you belong to a faith characterised by love and forgiveness.

What would Jesus do? Would he be floucing out getting all 'offended' ? What was that about the lost sheep etc, etc?

Seriously, pick your battles.