Ya know, this is not a game of whomever makes the last post …wins. What on earth is WRONG with you?

I make no generalizations. I can only judge by what you put out there, and from everything I've seen you type, you scream “humanist”. If I'm wrong, I apologize. If not, then you still didn't address my statement.

You have no idea what I believe. You just make assumption after assumption. I have no idea what you are suggesting with blanket generalizations like “persecute” and “humanism” because none of it applies to me. You just want to blame anything you can accuse me of to justify your asinine assertions. You just make crap up as you go.

That's fine. You have the right to not like (or hate) religion. And you have the right to say that you don't like religion. The first amendment protects us all, brother.

You do NOT have the right to PERSECUTE on that basis, however. I know you'd like to line us all up and give us a good dose of humanism to cure us of our faith.

But your humanism has done “wonders” for our nation so far. Drugs, preteen pregnancy, and general lack of purpose (among many others)…. That's what your belief system has brought upon us. Thanks for that, by the way.

To kathy's comment, I would say that I agree in principle in that I don't personally believe that anyone who uses the name of God this way is automatically evil and is going to hell. However, I would also add that in my opinion, as far as commandments from God go, this one is about as easy to follow as it gets. It's just a simple habit. Yes, habits can be hard to break, but anyone who actually cares about this one can do it. I've been doing it for almost 27 years.

Screw religion. Hows that for freedom mr. “free man”…?

Please.

And being a liberal, I'd think you'd LOVE yet another way to control the public. Or do you only like to control the public through governmental means?

As far as the article goes. Right on….and not just with a Christian perspective.
No disrespect to ANY religion should be shown on television or anywhere else within a public forum.
I would not disrespect Allah, Vishnu, Confucious, or Yehovah. It's a matter of common courtesy.
And taking the Jewish/Christian God's name in vane, is disrespectful to those in that faith.
And that includes showing Mohammed as a terrorist as the Dutch did in print.

And it's a business?
Where's MY cut? I haven't seen a dime since I was baptised into Christ.

I definitely appreciate this article. I'm not a Christian, and I live in an area where almost nobody subscribes to religious practices, so I forget sometimes that the G-Bomb can be and is offensive to many people. Just like I think it's in poor taste to curse in public places when there are children around, or to make a racist or sexist joke regardless of the company, I have to remember that to some people the G-word is just as bad.

Maybe this makes no difference as far as the way it's taken, but I do think most people who use “God” in such a context are using god, little “g”; as in, not the Christian God, or the Muslim God, for example, but just 'god'.

I think we misread the intention of the second commandment when we worry about people saying “I swear to God.” Yes, this is a technical violation of the commandment, but I think a better reading is that scripture is condemning those who claim God's authority when making pronouncements. This type of using God's name in vain happens all the time, be it by the Jerry Falwells of the world claiming God sends hurricanes to punish New Orleans, or politicians who claim that God would not support this or that position. This is a far more damaging use of God's name then an actor using a phrase.

Thanks for the encouraging words. I really appreciate them.

Mark

I think that the commentator is very good.

Jesus puts this discussion in the context not only of the Second Commandment–”You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain” (with vain referring to that trivialization of the Name), but also under The Eighth: “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” Jesus said, “…you have heard it said, 'You shall not swear falsely, but carry out the vows you have made to the Lord.' But I say to you, Do not swear at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black [obviously spoken in the days before Revlon or 'Just for Men']. Let your word be 'Yes, Yes or 'No, No'; anything more than this comes from the evil one.” (Matthew 5:33-37)

I think that dovetails with what your commentator said.

Thanks for taking the time to comment.

Mark

Now, I read this commentary with great interest, because I actually do use the word “God” in those trivial contexts quite a bit. And although I am not observant, I do feel very emotionally connected to Jewish history, ritual, traditions, and values. So what this author said was that she felt that the commandment had a deeper meaning — that it referred to the idea that if you make a promise, or commit to do something, you should keep the promise or follow through on the commitment, because in a sense you have made a commitment to God. She added — and this is the crucial part, I think — that even though if you take the commandments seriously it feels wrong to use God's name in trivial contexts that have nothing to do with God, she thinks that God is deeper and greater than that. In other words, yes by all means try to avoid using God's name unless you mean it, but if you slip, or if someone else does, it's highly unlikely that God is so petty or so hypersensitive as to take offense at that. And also, let me add: It's highly unlikely that God, whatever God is, actually meant the commandment in such a literal way, or that God actually expects human beings to have such perfect control over their reactions and exclamations that they never say “Oh,____!” and that they've violated a commandment if they do.

You may not agree with this, but perhaps it will make you feel a little better about this topic.

Religion is just another public control mechanism.

Moreover, in the United States, it's just another business.

I believe in Jesus, but I in no way believe that his teachings should be made law simply because they are in his book.

PS I am sure you expected this response