Christians calling their god 'God'

[mikeymikec]

Isn't calling your god 'God' kind of a dick move, as part of an attempt to insert your beliefs into the nature of the language?

That was a thought that occurred to me on the drive home the other day.

 

[PottedMeat]

it's the truth

just like the Dallas Cowboys are America's Team

verification: googling 'americas team' gives you their schedule

 

[pauldun170]

You call your mom "Mom"
You call your dad "Dad"

Others refer to their parents by the same.

I on the other hand refer to your mom as an "Exquisite Sheila" in my best Australian accent.
Gets me free cookies and coffee whenever I stop by.

As for the Christian god calling there god, God, blame the Brits. I think it's all covered in a Dr. Who episode.

 

[Regs]

You have been suffering from intrusive liberal thoughts.

 

[BurnItDwn]

Kids spell their imaginary friends with capital letters, adults can do the same.

 

[tynopik]

when referring to a particular person/entity/whatever, English rules call for capitalization

so,

"God is omnipotent and omniscient" is referring to someone in particular
vs
"The Greek gods had some interesting backstories" is not referring to someone in particular
vs
"Apollo was the son of Zeus" - specific references so names are capitalized

HTH

 

[dainthomas]

I think it's like how the United States calls it's winning sports teams "world champions".

 

[JujuFish]

Isn't calling your god 'God' kind of a dick move, as part of an attempt to insert your beliefs into the nature of the language?

That was a thought that occurred to me on the drive home the other day.

You don't understand how proper nouns work, do you?

 

[mikeymikec]

when referring to a particular person/entity/whatever, English rules call for capitalization

so,

"God is omnipotent and omniscient" is referring to someone in particular
vs
"The Greek gods had some interesting backstories" is not referring to someone in particular
vs
"Apollo was the son of Zeus" - specific references so names are capitalized

HTH

Kinda hard to capitalise the spoken word, don't you think? And considering that in the era that Christians decided to call their god God that very few people knew how to read or write, how it is written is pretty irrelevant to the point I made.

Furthermore, Apollo was the son of Zeus in Christian speak would come out as God was the son of God. Heaven forbid what happens when a Christian wants to talk about a Greek God.

You don't understand how proper nouns work, do you?

When you've learnt how to formulate a substantial response, let me know what it is.

 

[tynopik]

Kinda hard to capitalise the spoken word, don't you think?

at least 4 different people in this thread thought you were referring to the difference in capitalization between god and God

if that's not what you were talking about, you need to rephrase your thoughts

 

[Not So Mild]

Christianity is monotheist so it makes sense to only recognize one god and refer to it as God.

You think it's an attempt to assert beliefs on people, I think that's religion as a whole, not just Christianity. Oddly enough I love the history behind Egyptian, Norse, Greek and similar cultures' gods. Maybe I just hate monotheism, but that sounds stupid.

 

[herm0016]

at least 4 different people in this thread thought you were referring to the difference in capitalization between god and God

if that's not what you were talking about, you need to rephrase your thoughts

that would require a thought in the first place....

 

[JujuFish]

Kinda hard to capitalise the spoken word, don't you think? And considering that in the era that Christians decided to call their god God that very few people knew how to read or write, how it is written is pretty irrelevant to the point I made.

Furthermore, Apollo was the son of Zeus in Christian speak would come out as God was the son of God. Heaven forbid what happens when a Christian wants to talk about a Greek God.



When you've learnt how to formulate a substantial response, let me know what it is.

Thank you for confirming that you do not understand proper nouns. Perhaps it's time to go learn something instead of making yourself look like a fool on the internet.

 

[deadlyapp]

I'm pretty sure every single monotheistic religion refers to their god as God, not just Christianity.

If you look at Islam, they refer to their god as Allah which is literally just a translation of God.

If you believed in the Flying Spaghetti Monster, then he'd also be your god and you'd refer to him as God, especially when touched by His noodly appendage.

 

[crashtech]

Allah is the Arabic word for God, so Christians are not unique in this regard.

edit: ^deadlyapp, you win!

 

[mikeymikec]

I'm pretty sure every single monotheistic religion refers to their god as God, not just Christianity.

Judaism: Jehovah/Yahweh

If you look at Islam, they refer to their god as Allah which is literally just a translation of God.

Except that in English (and probably most other languages as well), he's referred to as Allah AFAIK.

 

[Mai72]

God is going to sae us all.

 

[Red Storm]

I think it's like how the United States calls it's winning sports teams "world champions".

Well it's not just Americans that play in those leagues. If you're referring to sports like basketball, baseball, or American football, it's because the top league in the world for those sports is in the USA, so the best team in that league would be world champions.

 

[mikeymikec]

at least 4 different people in this thread thought you were referring to the difference in capitalization between god and God

if that's not what you were talking about, you need to rephrase your thoughts

In Christianity, the name of their god is God. In other religions, their god has another name that they refer to it by, even if they sometimes refer to it as 'God' when talking about their own beliefs.

'Not So Mild' was on the right track of what I'm talking about:

You think it's an attempt to assert beliefs on people

More along the lines of wanting to assert the definition of 'god' as their god into the consciousness of the general populace, kind of like a company achieving a branding coup of their brand name being used instead of the name for that type of device, such as the general public using the word 'Hoover' rather than 'vacuum cleaner'.

 

[Red Storm]

In Christianity, the name of their god is God. In other religions, their god has another name that they refer to it by, even if they sometimes refer to it as 'God' when talking about their own beliefs.

But if that were true, other languages would also pronounce it as "God", but they do not. I would say "God" is more of a title than an actual name.

 

[GagHalfrunt]

I'm pretty sure every single monotheistic religion refers to their god as God, not just Christianity.

If you look at Islam, they refer to their god as Allah which is literally just a translation of God.

If you believed in the Flying Spaghetti Monster, then he'd also be your god and you'd refer to him as God, especially when touched by His noodly appendage.

I have never once referred to Him as God. I call Him My Noodly Master and He only touches me with His Noodly Appendage in a happy, non-rapey way.

 

[mikeymikec]

But if that were true, other languages would also pronounce it as "God", but they do not. I would say "God" is more of a title than an actual name.

If that was the case, it would work against my point, not in favour of it.

And if it was a title rather than a name, you either have to unpick God being referred to as God God or the rather circular "God is god" when spoken, rather like "Brexit means Brexit" 🙂

 

[lxskllr]

Oddly enough I love the history behind Egyptian, Norse, Greek and similar cultures' gods. Maybe I just hate monotheism, but that sounds stupid.

They simply have better stories. Sometimes I'm heathen(Hail Odin!). Sometimes I'm Discordian(Praise Eris!). And sometimes when I'm feeling reflective, I'm zen Buddhist. Mostly though, I'm just atheist.

 

[Thebobo]

I was always pissed when the IBM clones called them self's the PC, But there was the MAC ATARI and Amiga Fxx that they are all personal computers to. grrrrr.

 

[brianmanahan]

that's MISTER god to you