Timeline for Is "Thank god", as opposed to "Thank God", acceptable?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
5 events
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| Oct 23, 2012 at 3:03 | comment | added | Rei Miyasaka | There is no religious context; if anything, it's a cultural context. It's an English figure of speech, and like it or not, English is a language born in and predominantly used in countries with Christian roots. Preferring secular language as a general principle is one thing; insisting that there is "no excuse" for writers to use words with religious etymology borders on persecution. I don't care how right we as agnostic/atheists we may be about the nature of reality; intolerance helps no one. And again, I'm agnostic, and I use the phrase casually all the time. I have no ulterior motives. | |
| Oct 22, 2012 at 21:58 | comment | added | Chris | It goes without saying that if there is a religious context, the use of the phrase is justified. Maybe I used to strong a set of words however, I was pointing out the abuse of those words. In general writing there is no excuse for using the phrase without drawing unnecessary attention to it and the writer. The motives must be questioned when one throws in such a phrase for seemingly no reason. I don't mix into my writing ideologies, I try not to anyway. I expect the same amount of respect in return. Otherwise it becomes mixed purpose writing. | |
| Oct 22, 2012 at 2:33 | comment | added | Rei Miyasaka | Also, frankly, I'm really not interested in religious discussion here -- just the use of a phrase with a religious connotations. | |
| Oct 22, 2012 at 2:28 | comment | added | Rei Miyasaka | -1 for turning this into a YouTube comment section. There's a difference between striving to use secular language and being insulted by a figure of speech. As an agnostic, "thank God" doesn't insult me at all. If a doctor saves your life and you literally "thank God" without thanking your doctor (most Christians in most countries are sensible enough to thank their doctors as well for saving their lives), then sure, arguably the doctor could be justified in being annoyed, but to call the phrase "thank God" an insult to one's intelligence is excessively combative. | |
| Oct 22, 2012 at 0:50 | history | answered | Chris | CC BY-SA 3.0 |