LittleWaySoul Posted July 7, 2016 Share Posted July 7, 2016 I've had almost a decade-long disagreement over this with someone and I'm trying to get some feedback on what you guys think. Please post your reasoning for your response below. [Mediators of Meh, if this gets contentious feel free to move it to the debate table.] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luigi Posted July 7, 2016 Share Posted July 7, 2016 (edited) No. "God" is not his name. I've always wondered why, "Oh, my Lord" is acceptable, but "Oh, my God" is unacceptable. The two words are used interchangeably or together in many Biblical passages: The Lord God did that, God of all creation, the Lord of all creation, or Thomas the Apostle saying, "My Lord and my God." The Jews have a name for God, and that name is not to be pronounced. The name 'Jesus' is a name of God. But God is a title, or a definition, or a term of address, or something like that. I do think that swearing - as in court testimony - in the name of God and then giving false testimony is a sin. Edited July 7, 2016 by Luigi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
truthfinder Posted July 7, 2016 Share Posted July 7, 2016 Yes, it would be in vain. Now, whether or not it was a mortal or venial sin depends on exactly what was said, and why. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LittleWaySoul Posted July 7, 2016 Author Share Posted July 7, 2016 (edited) 3 minutes ago, Luigi said: No. "God" is not his name. I've always wondered why, "Oh, my Lord" is acceptable, but "Oh, my God" is unacceptable. The two words are used interchangeably or together in many Biblical passages: The Lord God did that, God of all creation, the Lord of all creation, or Thomas the Apostle saying, "My Lord and my God." The Jews have a name for God, and that name is not to be pronounced. The name 'Jesus' is a name of God. But God is a title, or a definition, or something like that. I do think that swearing - as in court testimony - in the name of God and then giving false testimony is a sin. I always considered a flippant use of "oh my Lord" to be wrong too, for what it's worth. The essential thing I want to highlight is the *flippant* part. Of course in prayer or Scripture "oh my God" is fine because it's directed towards Him. But despite "God" not technically being His name, shouldn't it be said with some sort of reverence? Edited July 7, 2016 by LittleWaySoul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Archaeology cat Posted July 7, 2016 Share Posted July 7, 2016 I asked a priest in confession once and he said it was sinful if used flippantly, though of course whether it's mortal or venial depends on all the factors at play. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 7, 2016 Share Posted July 7, 2016 Best avoided to me - and that is my personal conscience and decision for myself. If I use "Oh my God" etc prayerfully, then to me it is not to be used as an exclamation or whatever at any old time. Is it a mortal or venial sin, or no sin at all, if used either without forethought, spontaneously, accidentally or habitually or any other sort of whatever and concerned about it, speak to Father in Confession and accept his advice and don't go around here and then there second guessing him. His advice in Confession is quite personal for oneself alone. If it becomes quite obvious Father has given one incorrect advice and this could happen, then there was no sin at all - or whatever - in the past in having followed his advice. Simply amend for the future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spem in alium Posted July 7, 2016 Share Posted July 7, 2016 (edited) In some cultures, particularly European, it seems customary to use titles of Mary (Holy Mother, Mother of God, etc.) as exclamations of surprise, shock, etc., with "Oh my God" used less. What about saying "Oh my gosh" or "Oh my goodness" too? They're really just variants on "Oh my God" - should we use them still? Edited July 7, 2016 by Spem in alium Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Credo in Deum Posted July 7, 2016 Share Posted July 7, 2016 Oh my Science. Science dam you all! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LittleWaySoul Posted July 8, 2016 Author Share Posted July 8, 2016 On 7/6/2016 at 10:15 PM, BarbaraTherese said: Best avoided to me - and that is my personal conscience and decision for myself. If I use "Oh my God" etc prayerfully, then to me it is not to be used as an exclamation or whatever at any old time. Is it a mortal or venial sin, or no sin at all, if used either without forethought, spontaneously, accidentally or habitually or any other sort of whatever and concerned about it, speak to Father in Confession and accept his advice and don't go around here and then there second guessing him. His advice in Confession is quite personal for oneself alone. If it becomes quite obvious Father has given one incorrect advice and this could happen, then there was no sin at all - or whatever - in the past in having followed his advice. Simply amend for the future. It's not something I say. I'm on your side of the disagreement. It's someone I know who thinks it's fine. On 7/6/2016 at 11:05 PM, Spem in alium said: In some cultures, particularly European, it seems customary to use titles of Mary (Holy Mother, Mother of God, etc.) as exclamations of surprise, shock, etc., with "Oh my God" used less. I'm not sure what your point is here. I wouldn't agree with that either. On 7/6/2016 at 11:05 PM, Spem in alium said: What about saying "Oh my gosh" or "Oh my goodness" too? They're really just variants on "Oh my God" - should we use them still? I'm not sure you could call them "variants" as neither "gosh" nor "goodness" mean "God" in typical context. I see both as nonsense exclamations. It's similar with stuff like "darn" and "beaver dam" (and "frick" and f---). They're words used to replace the "bad" word with something meaningless which would lessen the blow. I don't think they're wrong because they mean nothing. (Though I'm pretty chill about the actual words too, depending on the circumstance). I guess my point in disliking the flippant use of "oh my God" is that it seems to lack reverence for God Himself and calls upon Him usually without actually thinking of Him. Using words like "gosh" and "goodness" don't do that. See what I mean? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nihil Obstat Posted July 8, 2016 Share Posted July 8, 2016 Your reservations are well founded and absolutely an issue that Catholics need to be better aware of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 9, 2016 Share Posted July 9, 2016 1 hour ago, Nihil Obstat said: Your reservations are well founded and absolutely an issue that Catholics need to be better aware of. No props left - please consider yourself propped anyway, Nihil. I wholeheartedly agree that in the ideal we should be aware! I used to say "Oh my God!" and becoming aware gradually overcoming the habit with "Goodness!" and other replacements. Nowadays I mainly use our milder fine Aussie expletives if I must explete at all ........... and am currently in the long process of trying not to resort to expletives at all without much luck except isolated success here and there. I know I think how St Therese just might have felt with one of her successes, when she hurried to her cell and hugged herself for joy at the victory over self. ......even though the opportunity to hurry to 'my cell' and hug myself for joy at victory over self is rare. I feel that in resorting to other expletives even very mild ones, deep down I am aware for myself that I am just trying to be politically correct and 'safe' from my conscience and even from judgement by the consciences of others. "But if someone says to you, "This was offered in sacrifice," do not eat it on account of the one who called attention to it and on account of conscience - I mean not your own conscience, but the other's. For why should my freedom be determined by someone else's conscience?" (1 Corinthians Ch10) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DominicanHeart Posted July 9, 2016 Share Posted July 9, 2016 This is a bad habit I need to break. Sometimes it just comes out. I'm making myself more aware and catching it before I say it. And then I try to come up with something nicer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ice_nine Posted July 9, 2016 Share Posted July 9, 2016 I usually only say it if I'm telling a story where someone says it. On very rare occasion it sorta slips out and I don't feel good about it. But at the same time I think it would need to be pretty serious (as in blasphemy) in order to qualify as a mortal sin. Idk. I've also studied Arabic and there are a LOT of words and expression that contain the name of God (Allah) and are not always literal or seriously referencing God. It's possible there is a cultural element at play too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LittleWaySoul Posted July 9, 2016 Author Share Posted July 9, 2016 14 hours ago, Ice_nine said: I usually only say it if I'm telling a story where someone says it. On very rare occasion it sorta slips out and I don't feel good about it. But at the same time I think it would need to be pretty serious (as in blasphemy) in order to qualify as a mortal sin. Idk. Oh I highly doubt it's a mortal sin in most cases. So many people just kind of say it without meaning anything. While I would prefer not to say it at all, I'm pretty sure it's only a venial sin at worst. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spem in alium Posted July 9, 2016 Share Posted July 9, 2016 (edited) 22 hours ago, LittleWaySoul said: I'm not sure what your point is here. I wouldn't agree with that either. I'm not sure you could call them "variants" as neither "gosh" nor "goodness" mean "God" in typical context. I see both as nonsense exclamations. It's similar with stuff like "darn" and "beaver dam" (and "frick" and f---). They're words used to replace the "bad" word with something meaningless which would lessen the blow. I don't think they're wrong because they mean nothing. (Though I'm pretty chill about the actual words too, depending on the circumstance). I guess my point in disliking the flippant use of "oh my God" is that it seems to lack reverence for God Himself and calls upon Him usually without actually thinking of Him. Using words like "gosh" and "goodness" don't do that. See what I mean? My point about use of Marian titles is that using such expressions can be cultural, and not actually intended to be a serious reference of Our Lady, though I don't know how much that extends to "Oh my God". Many of my European sisters do it, with one using particular expressions quite frequently. It surprised me at first, and I don't really agree with it, but I've since learned it's cultural - it doesn't make it better, but it gives some more context. "Oh my goodness" and "oh my gosh" are euphemisms for "Oh my God", just like the other words you mention. They are not bad words, no. I'm just curious. I have actually seen instances where people, in the middle of saying "Oh my God", have changed to "Oh my gosh". Interesting. I use "Oh my God" or "Oh my Lord" sometimes in prayer. I also dislike "Oh my God" being used without thinking, but I think it's become such a part of contemporary language that it's going to be very difficult to remove. Edited July 9, 2016 by Spem in alium Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now