I've noticed something and I think it is pretty odd. The word "God" has permeated our language and pretty much makes it hard for anyone to write without using it. The thing that bothers me is that they try to show their enlightenment (why don't atheists and agnostics consider it a sign of ignorance to be so) by not capitalizing the first letter.
Now I'm all for everyone worshiping and believing as they will. But if you're going to say "thank god" I think you should have the integrity to spell God with a capital since that is the original intent of the phrase.
You may want to try these alternatives to show your independence from the God of the Universe:
thank non Judeo-Christian God (still have to capitalize, sorry)
thank eternal-being (is eternal too spiritual?)
thank some higher power but not sure what it is (will give grammar check fits)
thank the inner god that is me (talking to yourself is kind of crazy)
thank the life force that surrounds us all (you are my son, Luke)
I did it on purpose and was waiting for your comment so I could say...Happy Birthday!
Posted by: Bob on June 14, 2004 02:31 PMOh I don't know... Bob is always a proper noun (well, except when it's a verb) and so it is always capitilized. But God is both a proper noun ("And God said unto..."), and sometimes just a plain old noun ("the Hindu god of..."), in which case it wouldn't be capitalized. It's like "lord" or "dad" or "earth".
So, if I say "Oh my God!" and my God is the same as your God, meaning, the Judeo-Christian god who goes by the name God, then it should be capitilized. But maybe when I say "Oh my god" my god is Vishnu or Buddha and so it shouldn't be capitilized. Maybe we should all just go back to calling him Yaweh or Jehovah so there's no confusion -- oh but wait, we're not supposed to use those names: http://www.pantheon.org/articles/y/yahweh.html
Posted by: David on June 15, 2004 09:20 AMThe point I was trying to make is that in our venacular, the "God" in "Oh my God!" and "Thank God!" is the Judeo-Christian deity. I don't think most people that use the lower case form do so because they have another "god" in mind but more to show that they aren't religious, if that makes more sense.
Posted by: Bob on June 15, 2004 01:39 PMPersonally, I think they're just too lazy to hold down the Caps key.
BTW, I'm sure that despite B's academic misfortune, he's learned a lesson that'll serve him well. I still see the disappointment on LLatins face ;)
Posted by: geo on June 15, 2004 03:52 PMi don't know what you're talking about regarding the god damn caps key... :-)
poor llatin!
GOOD GOD WHO IS LLATIN?
Posted by: David on June 15, 2004 05:55 PMLOL My guess is that it is Lucy Latin, a Latin teacher at our high school.
Posted by: Bob on June 16, 2004 09:34 AM
My birthday is April 26. You posted this on my birthday. I think that's pretty special. Go you!
Posted by: Random Passerby on June 14, 2004 02:20 PM