Why do people write G-d in their posts, what, is 'God' offensive or something?

I've wondered about this for quite a while now as I see it so often so I thought I'd ask all the good religious folk on ATS to provide some insight.

Firstly, is this an Abrahamic god thing where there is some mysterious reason for missing out the 'o' in god, or do other major religious types do the same, you know Sh-va instead of Shiva for Hindus, or Wah-guru instead of Waheguru for Sikh's?

I'll confirm now that I don't personally believe in any gods/spirits/ghosts/whatever, but this G-d thing puzzles me, and short of being some secret code in a religious conspiracy I genuinely would like to understand why people do this.
Thanks in advance for any replies which help educate me about this.

*Mods please feel free to move to the theology/religion/woo woo forum if my topic placement is deemed inappropriate.

a reply to: grainofsand

G-- darned if I know. I've wondered myself on occasion, but never asked. And -o- bless you for presenting this thread, may --d be with you.

a reply to: grainofsand

Commandment #4....I believe...
"Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain"

I also believe is is predominately a Jewish practice for respect..


Here is a great explanation....

"The tetragramatron name of G-d is both unpronounceable and forbidden to pronounce. But writing the word "God" in English isn't. (See? There I just did it.)

Writing G-d's name on a paper makes that paper have to buried if discarded, and requires that we have to take special care in treating it and disposing of it.

Opinions differ as to how far to take all of this, whether it extends to writings about sanctified topics, etc.

But, for me, writing "G-d" instead of "God" reminds me to be mindful, respectful, and make an attempt at sanctifying G-d's name with my speech, writing, and actions.

Some people take this very, very far, (in my opinion) past superstition and into the realm of the absurd. I have seen "HaSh-m", which is an English transliteration of the Hebrew word for "the name".

There are many (70?) names of G-d. According to my best understanding of mainstream Jewish thought (I know of excpetions) only the tetragramatron, and about two others (only the Hebrew versions) *require* burial/special treatment. The others are optional.

I have read works by major, respected, Orthodox Rabbis, with it written "G-d" and others who write it as "God". "

G-d

It's some extra measure I think, something about "I don't even have the right to use the word God in a sentence."

Deep love for the space wizard.

a reply to: Aleister
It's the first time I've asked the question myself so maybe we'll both learn something new

A legitimate question I suppose .I have never considered it personally . I use the o and the G instead of the g ..I don't think there is a conspiracy in it but am curious enough to see how this thread goes ..good luck . a reply to: grainofsand

The "O" key on their keyboard is faulty?

a reply to: ThinkingCap
Strange though, if I was a god and people referred to me in text but dropping the 'o' they are still obviously referring to me. Why the 'o' for that matter, is Go- equally respectful?

a reply to: ParanoidAmerican
Thank you for such an informative reply, I can understand the mindset behind it a bit more now.
I know a lot of people may think I'm a prick with some of my non-believer posts over the years here, but I am genuinely interested in this so it is not a 'bait' thread or anything like that, I am seeking understanding. Thanks again.

a reply to: grainofsand

Personally I'd prefer to call a deity by his/her/it's actual name, not just "deity" or "d-ity". Omitting a letter out of the word God seems to be no different from me. As since the dawn of man there have been many gods.

Only recently have we abandoned our previous gods and stuck with one. Now we've removed his original name entirely and just refer to him as "Deity", and even moreso "De-ty"... For we apparently aren't worthy of even spelling that out anymore.

a reply to: grainofsand

No problem. While not 'religious' I too am fascinated by religion and it's hold on man. Religion (not belief in a god) is responsible for the majority of the worlds suffering....yet many still flock to these institutions and claim their ties readily to the public. A personal relationship with whatever it is you believe is all that matters, gods do not dwell in houses built but man but dwell within the House of Man.

So it's not for hangman? I thought I was getting really good at it! Except I'm not sure on some of them, I think are 'shut' and 'fork'.



But yeah, It is a dumb thing to do I think. Don't use god's name in vain? Except everyone does because it's just such a commonly adopted phrase. As for being respectful? pffft. Don't write the word at all then because leaving out a letter is hypocritical, you're breaking the rules but apparently that's ok so long as you hyphenate (was that in the fine print?).
So God is a-ok with all his flock, but only if they hyphen with respect to the big man. Cmon.... *rollseyes*

originally posted by: ParanoidAmerican
a reply to: grainofsand

Commandment #4....I believe...
"Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain"

I also believe is is predominately a Jewish practice for respect..


Here is a great explanation....

"The tetragramatron name of G-d is both unpronounceable and forbidden to pronounce. But writing the word "God" in English isn't. (See? There I just did it.)

Writing G-d's name on a paper makes that paper have to buried if discarded, and requires that we have to take special care in treating it and disposing of it.

Opinions differ as to how far to take all of this, whether it extends to writings about sanctified topics, etc.

But, for me, writing "G-d" instead of "God" reminds me to be mindful, respectful, and make an attempt at sanctifying G-d's name with my speech, writing, and actions.

Some people take this very, very far, (in my opinion) past superstition and into the realm of the absurd. I have seen "HaSh-m", which is an English transliteration of the Hebrew word for "the name".

There are many (70?) names of G-d. According to my best understanding of mainstream Jewish thought (I know of excpetions) only the tetragramatron, and about two others (only the Hebrew versions) *require* burial/special treatment. The others are optional.

I have read works by major, respected, Orthodox Rabbis, with it written "G-d" and others who write it as "God". "

G-d

Good explanation...

Unfortunately God is not a name, its a title...

Similar to "In the name of the Father, son, and holy spirit"

Yet Christians don't know "the holy spirit's name"...

Nifty eh...

i never understood it. God is not his name. it is what he is.
his name is YHWH or translated in english "I am that I am."

of course there will be those that argue this.

I think to be fair and honest, there are people in the state I live who would slap someone across the face..without regard to who it is, either...if you were to say God Damnit! in their presence. It's THAT serious a thing to some folks. I think people who have come up around that see it become ingrained to the level that a self censor of the name becomes automatic.

There simply is no way to ever explain to someone outside the ranks of the Faithful, WHY it's that touchy to some folks ...but then I always figured respect in person didn't require my understanding. Just a desire not to offend when it isn't necessary to do so. Still.... I do draw the line at G-d. He is God to me. Whether He's damning things or not.

a reply to: Qumulys
'Hyphen with respect' Lol, I know what you mean, even as one who has no faith I find it hard to imagine that an all powerful god would be angry with people talking about him/her/it with all the letters of their generally accepted name being used in a post.
God = You burn
G-d = You go to heaven

Surely gods are not grammar and spelling nazis?

a reply to: Akragon

I would say God (capitalized) is the Anglican name for the Creator, like Allah, Yahweh, or Jah. As stated God's 'true' name is unpronounceable.

I think it's intended to be on analogy with Jewish practice, though the analogy isn't exact.

Historical background; the original Jewish alphabet was consonants only, with vowels added as secondary marks.
The Jews came to regard it as taboo to pronounce the name behind the consonants YHWH, so they indicated to readers that they should use the word Adonai as a substitute.
Thus acccidentally inventing the name Jehovah, which is the consonants of YHWH combined with the vowels of Adonai. Not a real name at all, but don't tell the Jehovah's witnessses.

The new practice of leaving out the vowel of "God" is obviously in imitation of this, presumably based on the fact that YHWH has no written vowels.
There's no real reason for it, because the word "God" is not the word "YHWH", and there's no reason why it should not be treated as one of the acceptable substitutes.
A closer analogy with Jewish practice would be to change the vowel sound (there are precedents in English usage for both "Gawd" and Gad").

originally posted by: ThinkingCap
a reply to: grainofsand

Personally I'd prefer to call a deity by his/her/it's actual name, not just "deity" or "d-ity". Omitting a letter out of the word God seems to be no different from me. As since the dawn of man there have been many gods.

Only recently have we abandoned our previous gods and stuck with one. Now we've removed his original name entirely and just refer to him as "Deity", and even moreso "De-ty"... For we apparently aren't worthy of even spelling that out anymore.

A thread worthy unto itself. There is a guy at work who once a year disappears off to a third-world nation under the guise of doing 'good' when it is really 21st century missionary work. Had a conversation about names and decided to call the fictional character Frank.

Throws off the computer tracking. What, you want to be fed to lions some day because you mentioned big g?