I have a quick and simple question for you. Since you do not believe in god, why do you capitalize \u201cGod\u201d in your texts? I share many of the same beliefs\/ideals as you, therefore not seeing a reason to capitalize the word \u201cgod\u201d.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Richard replied that he used the upper case G for clarity and to avoid putting people off needlessly, and I was in total agreement. \u00a0I was pretty surprised to see the high\u00a0proportion of commenters who felt that Richards was off-base.<\/p>\n
The responses in the small g camp covered a range of opinions, but here\u2019s a sampling:<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t capitalize doctor since there are plenty of types of doctors unless I\u2019m specifying an actual doctor\u2019s name. Same goes for god, there are thousands of them, so I don\u2019t treat it as a proper name or noun.<\/p>\n
So I only capitalize it when it\u2019s used along with their actual name, like Elohim, Yahweh, Jehovah, Allah, Shiva, Tenri-O-no-Mikoto, Krishna and the many countless others.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\u201cI capitalize Buddha, Zeus, Anu, etc- but I generally can\u2019t bring myself to capitalize \u201cgod\u201d. The capitalized version irks me. I don\u2019t mind capitalizing Jesus or Jahweh (or Yahweh) etc- but I\u2019m just not cool with Christians cornering the market on the word \u201cgod\u201d. If one of my Christian friends gets angsty with me about it, I simply explain that their deity figures do have names, and maybe they should try using them instead of trying to force their religion upon the English language.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\u201cGOD is not a name \u2013 it is a job description.
\nSo I write it as g0d, using the zero to indicate it total intellectual content.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\u201cThe use of \u201cGod\u201d as a name skews the debate. It\u2019s a loaded word, no matter what our intent in using it. When Xians hear \u201cGod\u201d or even \u201cgod\u201d in a sentence, their conception of God is reinforced; it resonates with their \u201cinside\u201d perspective, instead of challenging that perspective. I tend to say something like \u201cyour deity\u201d or \u201cthe deity you worship\u201d since that sets the context right.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Of course, I have total sympathy for the argument that language shapes and is shaped by culture (you needn\u2019t look farther than the relative proportions of gendered insults to be convinced of that). \u00a0I just don\u2019t think this is a fight remotely worth having.<\/p>\n
Making a show of not capitalizing God puts the conversation on a more adversarial tone right from the beginning. Unless you make an effort to politely explain why you don\u2019t capitalize, most\u00a0Christians\u00a0will assume you are doing it to be disrespectful. \u00a0(And, unless your explanation is polished, they may assume that anyway). \u00a0With so many ways to go wrong<\/a> and derail the conversation accidentally, why would you deliberately throw another stumbling block in your interlocutor\u2019s way?<\/p>\nI\u2019d be curious to know whether some of the atheist readers of the site agree with Richard and me or whether you think the stakes of this dispute are higher than I\u2019ve given them credit for? \u00a0Are there other things you do in a religious dispute that you know are off-putting but that you consider necessary? \u00a0(For me, disclosing my bisexuality sometimes falls into this category).<\/p>\n
I\u2019d also like to ask the\u00a0Christians how much this jab bothers them. \u00a0Does it put you off the commenter\/article? Would you ask someone about their capitalization choice? \u00a0Are there other ways atheists speak\/act in discussions that you find similarly scornful? \u00a0Do you make any allowances or changes in your speaking\/writing style to avoid offending an atheist in a discussion about religion?<\/p>\n
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