A theory about religion

Originally posted by LemonJello
[b]Why do you think that is?

Jesus Christ.

I mean why don't people swear on Muhammed or Buddha?

Jesus Christ.

What do you think?

Jesus Christ.

Come on, chappy, you already said you know the answer to any question one could possibly ask.

(Boy, now I am just being really annoying.)[/b]

Yes you are. Answer the question, really.

Originally posted by chappy1
Yes you are. Answer the question, really.

Why, does it honestly offend you when people casually swear on God or Jesus Christ? If so, maybe we should try to understand it just for what it is. It is usually some interjectional remark where the propositional content, if any, is at best vague, no? The person is usually trying to convey some sort of attitude toward some set of circumstances -- like maybe disgust, or dismay, or disappointment, or confusion, or shock, or something along these lines, right? So, often it really hasn't the slightest thing to do with your religion. So then why do people interject with this phrase which is otherwise particular to your religion? It's probably a cluster of reasons (specific to our particular milieu). It may have started out as short form of prayer burst -- like, maybe, short for something like grant me some strength and patience in these trying circumstances; but then it became more and more habitual and secular in nature. But keep in mind also that if you want to throw out an interjection that carries some impact, you might look for something that is in some sense culturally taboo. Your religion has had the very unfortunate (in my opinion) effect of largely infixing in the collective consciousness a very childish morality of constraint. And, wouldn't you know it, that particular interjection happens to be in some sense taboo within that rule-based structure. It may well be that other cultures don't produce similar articles of taboo because their ethical path is predominantly not one of rule-based constraint; further, it may be that other cultures which are nevertheless rule-based also do not produce such articles because transgression in that culture (uttering something of taboo, for example) is treated with much more severity. I haven't really thought about it fully, these are just some quick ideas.

But again, I think in most cases, the interjection really has nothing to do with your religion, per se, and you don't have good grounds for taking it as disparaging toward your faith based on any of the motivations of the person uttering it. Now, on the other hand, perhaps some use it sometimes just to annoy and disrespect people of Christian faith whom they suspect will take it as an annoyance or act of disrespect. That's different, and there we can isolate an ignoble motivation behind the remark itself.