The word "god"

Permabear

This post has been deleted.

seamus

Depends on whether you consider god to be a proper noun. A proper noun is something which refers to a unique entity.

So in order to justify a capital letter, you would need to believe that you are referring to something that's a unique entity. This doesn't require that the something actually exists, but simply that it can be referred to. That is, if I had an imaginary friend called Fred, he doesn't exist (and is probably not unique), but under grammar rules, a capital letter is appropriate when referring to Fred.

I think it's fair to say that when you are talking about a specific god such as the Catholic god, then good grammar dictates that you would capitalise it. However, if you are talking about god as a concept, or otherwise using the word "god" without referring to any one of the infinite possible gods, then a lower case should be applied.

Capitalising "he" and "him" is poor grammar and must be avoided.

doctoremma

donegalfella wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

The term "god" is not a proper noun because it applies to any god. My thoughts aren't ever directed at any particular god and are applicable across all magic men (or women). Hence "god". I've probably slipped a few times though

What if I offend another religion (or worse, allow them to assume that my points aren't directed at their god) by using "God"? How does that only apply to the Judeo-Christian god?

*I can't pretend that a part of me doesn't do it to be dismissive.

Agonist

In a formal writing context I'll use 'God' when referring to the Judeo Christian god simply because it's the correct use of English. Usually, I'll try to say 'a god' or 'your god', even 'the god of the bible'.

I never capitalise the pronoun. I think that's only a convention for religious believers.

I also capitalise god at the beginning of a sentence

fatmammycat

Write what you like. It's no different from writing 'cloud' or 'marmalade.' It is none of her concern how you address her fictional diety, unless her version of a god is going by Yahweh. Then I might use a capital as it is a name. Like I would right Jesus, or Thor, but not god. God is such a generic word.
I know eegits who write 'G-d'

*shakes head*

ChocolateSauce

I always use lower case g specifically because I feel a non-existing entity doesn't require the respect that might be associated with a capital G. I'm not sure if this is gramatically correct, but I'm willing to be wrong on this one.

iUseVi

I refuse to capitalise it, it would be like saying a Invisible Unicorn or a Pixie in my garden.

toiletduck

I use 'gawd' :pac:

herbiemcc

It's an interesting point and I agree with Seamus about the grammar.

I really just try to take context into account in that if I am specifially and obviously discussing the Christian God I would capitalise it because in effect God is his name. Just like I wouldn't write jesus, mohammed, thor or zeus etc just because I don't believe/worship them.

With anything else it's just god.

I am a little torn over not wanting to;

- appear wantonly contrary (because it usually doesn't help a discussion)
or
- look like I'm conforming out of respect for religious nonsense.

herbiemcc

If there was a 4,000 year old religion all based around one particular pixie who is commonly known as Pixie, might you not want to differentiate between it and all the other pixies during discussions?

robindch

donegalfella wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

You could try demanding in return that your friend refers to you as "You" and that anything less is disrespectful.

donegalfella wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

Worrying that atheists might confuse their deity seems a bit misplaced when christians can't agree amongst themselves about what or who their deity is!

donegalfella wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

Generally I refer to a "deity", rather than "god", since the use of the latter refers to both the generic forms, as well as the many specific instances that different religious groups believe exist, this confusion is something that's consciously used in religious discourse to make it just slightly harder to think about and understand the topic clearly.

When "god" does show up, he always gets a lower case, same as the word "deity" does.

robindch

toiletduck wrote: »

I use 'gawd' :pac:

Somehow, I'm having a hard time forgetting that surprised glove puppet ghoul, Wendy Wright, and her "creaTOR":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=US8f1w1cYvs

Beruthiel

I would always spell it god, on the grounds s/he/it doesn't exist, therefore doesn't deserve a capital letter.
Don't care about seamus's grammar dictates excuse.

Caveat

fatmammycat wrote: »

Write what you like. It's no different from writing 'cloud' or 'marmalade.' It is none of her concern how you address her fictional diety, unless her version of a god is going by Yahweh. Then I might use a capital as it is a name. Like I would right Jesus, or Thor, but not god. God is such a generic word.
I know eegits who write 'G-d'

*shakes head*

+1. No different to someone objecting to you agreeing with certain politics, drinking, whatever. None of her business.

Herbal Deity

"God" is the name of the Christian deity, it's a proper noun.

pts

Herbal Deity wrote: »

"God" is the name of the Christian deity, it's a proper noun.

I wouldn't agree with this at all. God is the word for a supernatural being, not any particular one. Yahweh is the name of the Christian god.

pH

There are all kinds of fun to be had here - if merely not capitalising the G is disrespectful.

- G-d/-od Omit a letter, on the basis that if god doesn't exist then maybe the G or O doesn't either. This in some branches of Judaism is a highly respectful way of writing his name.

- Add an acronym in brackets (Islam style) after all references - be cryptic about what you might mean for example

God (OIBIH), God (IAYHFOHDEY), God (WDE) - Insist he's being disrespectful to your atheism if he refuses to adopt your style.

Pushtrak

Herbal Deity wrote: »

"God" is the name of the Christian deity, it's a proper noun.

I always pegged it as a proper fallacy.

aidan24326

Herbal Deity wrote: »

"God" is the name of the Christian deity, it's a proper noun.

When referred to in that context, perhaps. But removed from context the word god can apply to any one of the huge number of possible gods, not to mention the fact that nobody can even define what exactly a god is.

robindch wrote: »

Somehow, I'm having a hard time forgetting that surprised glove puppet ghoul, Wendy Wright, and her "creaTOR":

Damn you Robin for reminding me of that woman! Anyone who doubts Dawkins' ability to be patient and courteous to his interviewee should watch that. Those crazy eyes and that demonic smile. Smug arrogance wrapped up in outright stupidity.

herbiemcc

Yahweh is his name in Hebrew. English speaking people refer to him as God so it is his name effectively.

I don't want to show 'respect' for the belief but again I would also write Thor and Zeus and to do otherwise seems a bit bitter or something.

Unless you're referring to god as a generic then it is a name and as such should be capitalised. I don't write He or Him because that only makes sense if you're a believer in all the tripe.

robindch

pH wrote: »

God (OIBIH), God (IAYHFOHDEY), God (WDE) - Insist he's being disrespectful to your atheism if he refuses to adopt your style.

I'd go with GOD (WTF?).

Dades

herbiemcc wrote: »

English speaking people refer to him as God so it is his name effectively.

Only because they make the assumption that their god (lowercase) is the only one.

herbiemcc

For me that's the point. In their bible, it's their god. I wouldn't write allah either but that's just the arabic word for god. He's known as Allah - I'm not betraying any atheist ideology by writing Allah.

In most sentences I would write god but when it's a comment about eg - "In the bible God says that..." it's just a point of reference.

Mark Hamill

donegalfella wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

As pts said, god is not his name, Yahweh is. You should put that to your friend.

donegalfella wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

The Judeo-Christian deity is largely interchangable with other deities.

donegalfella wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

I write it god. Its not a name or title, its just a general descriptive term and if I need to single out one I would add more descriptive terms. Christians saying you have to capitalise the word god when talking about the christian god would be like workers at a factory saying you have to capitalise the word "boss" when talking about their boss because they think he is the best one ever.

Mark Hamill

herbiemcc wrote: »

Yahweh is his name in Hebrew. English speaking people refer to him as God so it is his name effectively.

Yahweh is his name, it doesn't matter what people who cant speak Hebrew say.

herbiemcc wrote: »

I don't want to show 'respect' for the belief but again I would also write Thor and Zeus and to do otherwise seems a bit bitter or something.

But do you write "Thor the God of Thunder", or "Thor the god of thunder"? Thor and Zeus are names, god is not.

pts

herbiemcc wrote: »

For me that's the point. In their bible, it's their god. I wouldn't write allah either but that's just the arabic word for god. He's known as Allah - I'm not betraying any atheist ideology by writing Allah.

In most sentences I would write god but when it's a comment about eg - "In the bible God says that..." it's just a point of reference.

I think Christians have (very clevcerly) hijacked the word so that in English, and most western languages, god is a synonym to the Christian god.

In regards to Yahweh, it is hard to establish the chronology of the word. Did Yahweh tell the Jews that his name was Yahweh thus making the Hebrew word which described a god Yahweh or did they already use the word Yahweh to describe a supernatural entity and when Yahweh start chatting to them they referred to him as Yahweh as he fits the definition of a supernatural entity. Who knows

Pompey Magnus

I treat God no less fairly than other fictional characters such as Sherlock Holmes or Hamlet.

Dades

Charco wrote: »

I treat God no less fairly than other fictional characters such as Sherlock Holmes or Hamlet.

I always prefer Ahab, when comparing God to another fictional characters.

Galvasean

If someone could prove that this god creature is a valid genus, then I would give it a capital letter. Of course, i would also write God in itallics.

herbiemcc

I would write Thor the god of thunder.

Nobody in here wrote yahweh. Even though that is just a name that Hebrews gave to God.

Or are you saying that Yahweh actually is his name?

A name is just what something is known by. The christian character of God is a specific character in our written and oral history.

I don't like showing deference to something I don't believe in but again I'm not going to therefore write john the baptist just because there are other baptists around called John.

Malari

Agonist wrote: »

Usually I'll try to say 'a god' or 'your god', even 'the god of the bible'.

This is what I do. Just put the indefinite article in front of it and never capitalise. I think it's different from a specific fictional character or imaginary friend because when people say "god" they don't all mean the same mythical dude. You don't capitalise Imaginary Friend, only the specific name of one.

pts

herbiemcc wrote: »

Or are you saying that Yahweh actually is his name?

I'm not well versed enough in the subject matter to know, but according to the 1st sentence in the Wikipedia article:

Wikipedia wrote:

Yahweh is the personal name of God in the Hebrew Bible

interestingly in the above quote god is capitalised

it further goes on to say:

Yahweh via Wikipedia wrote:

"Then God spoke all these words. He said, ‘I am Yahweh your God who brought you out of Egypt, where you lived as slaves. You shall have no other gods to rival me.’”

(taken from EXODUS 20:1-3)

If you replace the word "Yahweh" with "God" in the above sentence it sounds odd. In the King James translation of 21:1-3 it says:

And God spake all these words, saying,

I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

Maybe his name is "Lord"? :-)

herbiemcc

I'm not well versed at all - I just meant that his name is always just something that people put on him in whatever book it's written down. (I'm talking like he exists!!!)

I could write a new book saying "and he said unto me I am Pinky your God". Time and followers would give Pinky his due status.

I suppose I find that to write 'your god' is ok when conversing with one person (ie 'insert god here') but if writing generally about the christian god or about biblical things (I'm not a theologian) using God sort of just doesn't distract from proceedings if you know what I mean. So that we're all singing from the same hymn sheet, to borrow a phrase.

I'd rather decimate a christian's argument through logic and reason that cloud it with spelling debates.

GLaDOS

I agree with the grammar rules, but I get a petty little thrill out of not capitaising it

Antbert

I say God if I'm not referring to it as a noun ("a god", as several other people have said). Someone also said a page back that they'd say Sherlock Holmes. The name of a fictional character is still a name. And I think there's an element of 'ah here' when you say that's not his actual name. If you refer to someone by a nickname, basically not as a noun, you'd capitalise it. Like if I say 'Hi Dad'. "Dad" isn't his name, but I capitalise it. Unless I'm saying he's "a dad". I'm so glad I thought of that example because before that all I could think of was hip Americans calling each other 'Bro'.

That aside, if it annoys her, continue to use the lower case. I certainly would. Grammar goes out the window if I can rile up petty Christians.

robindch

doctoremma wrote: »

I can't pretend that a part of me doesn't do it to be dismissive.

ScienceNerd wrote: »

I get a petty little thrill out of not capitaising it

Antbert wrote: »

[...] if it annoys her, continue to use the lower case. I certainly would. Grammar goes out the window if I can rile up petty Christians.

I sense a common thread running through a lot of this

GLaDOS

robindch wrote: »

I sense a common thread running through a lot of this

It's our version of Che Guevara tshirts

Tim Robbins

donegalfella wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

Well she obviously hasn't a clue. In the original NT, it was written in ancient greek in which everything was CAPS SO YOU SHOULD START WRITING TO HER LIKE THAT.

In the original OT, I think everything was lowercase.

robindch

Tim Robbins wrote: »

In the original NT, it was written in ancient greek in which everything was CAPS SO YOU SHOULD START WRITING TO HER LIKE THAT.

ACTUALLYITWASMORELIKETHIS:

Herbal Deity

aidan24326 wrote: »

When referred to in that context, perhaps. But removed from context the word god can apply to any one of the huge number of possible gods, not to mention the fact that nobody can even define what exactly a god is.

Oh, of course.

"God" is the name of the Christian god, that's my point.

However, all the "Him" crap, I consider ridiculous.

Antbert

Are you supposed to capitalise 'him'? That makes no grammatical sense. I'm losing patience now.

GLaDOS

Herbal Deity wrote: »

However, all the "Him" crap, I consider ridiculous.

Given it's a trinity, surely it should be "Them"

Turtwig

Out of respect, I capitalise both Him and God. I don't like to give theists a reason to rationalise their frustration and detract from the discussion. I make compromises every way I can to further the actual debate. Stirring up your opponent is fun, but it's not going to get you anywhere.:)

iUseVi

Malty_T wrote: »

Out of respect, I capitalise both Him and God. I don't like to give theists a reason to rationalise their frustration and detract from the discussion. I make compromises every way I can to further the actual debate. Stirring up your opponent is fun, but it's not going to get you anywhere.:)

Same, this is the only reason I sometimes capitalise - when I know I am up against someone so petty that it might be a sticking point.

Daftendirekt

When referring specifically to the Christian god, it should be capitalised. Even if his actual name is Yahweh, God is the name that's commonly attributed to him. When talking about non-specific deities or the general idea, I'd use lower case.

It grinds my gears seeing 'him' capitalised though. It's just unnecessary. Grammar is there to help you communicate clearly, not to respect (or lack of respect) for fictional characters.


A less common 'quirk' that I've come across once or twice is the idea that the name Satan should never be capitalised (it's a fundy thing, I think).

Petrovia

donegalfella wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

If she considers omitting a capital to be disrespectful to her beliefs then surely calling other deities 'discredited' (assuming that is what she said) is about 10 times as disrespectful to those concerned?

I think I usually write god (lowercase), which, I suppose, is ok because I usually write about god/s in a general way (and if I'm talking about, say, the Christian god specifically, I'll usually say 'the Christian god', in which case I'm still using the general word, like you would say 'The Islamic god' and not 'The Islamic Allah'). I never really thought about making a distinction though, I have to say. Maybe I should start...

I do write God and Him etc. sometimes... When I'm writing mock bible verses. I take great delight in doing that. Perhaps I'm a bit sad.

drkpower

Beruthiel wrote: »

I would always spell it god, on the grounds s/he/it doesn't exist, therefore doesn't deserve a capital letter.
.

Santa Claus, no....?

And SC could be considered generic as some different cultures have their own version of SC.
When referring to someone's G(g)od, surely its just a name, so give it a capital.....

Lot of fuss about nothing reallly, from both sides.

Flamed Diving

drkpower wrote: »

Santa Claus, no....?

And SC could be considered generic as some different cultures have their own version of SC.
When referring to someone's G(g)od, surely its just a name, so give it a capital.....

Lot of fuss about nothing reallly, from both sides.

I use the lower-case g because I intend it to piss believers off.

How about that?

drkpower

Flamed Diving wrote: »

I use the lower-case g because I intend it to piss believers off.

How about that?

You mad bast*rd......;)

Why not call him 'god the bollox' or 'c*ntface' and do the job properly. A small 'g' will only piss off those who reallly really want to be offended.

Flamed Diving

drkpower wrote: »

You mad bast*rd......;)

Why not call him 'god the bollox' or 'c*ntface' and do the job properly. A small 'g' will only piss off those who reallly really want to be offended.

But those are the ones whom I like to offend the most.

Zombrex

A pixie is a supernatural woodland creature

Pixie Lott is a 15 minutes of fame pop singer with bad acne

I've no issue with capitilising God when discussing the Judo-Christian god in the same way I've no issue capitialising Allah (allah means god in Arabic as far as I know)

The thing that grinds my gears is being expected to capitilise "Him" when discussing God. I some times do it I some times don't, but I don't think you should be expected to.