Honest question - why do some people spell God without the o? (G-d)

Just something I was curious about.

Sorry if it has been asked before, but I did a search and came up with nothing.

An honest question:

I've noticed some on the boards, whenever they type God, spell it G-d.

What is the significance of the omitted 'o'?

Also, if this is a widespread practice, how and why did it start?

reply to post by fooffstarr


My guess they are trying to be PC for those who don’t believe. Or it is either devout disbelievers that can’t bring their selves to type it all out. Just a guees I'm probably way off but thought I would give it a shot.

Actually, they do it out of respect for god, as they believe they shouldn't say the word outloud.

I take it you've never seen Life of Brian where they stone the guy for saying gods name?




[edit on 10-5-2009 by badmedia]

reply to post by badmedia


Ok. So it is basically a respect thing?

To avoid saying (typing) it on the forum you simply remove a letter. That way you still avoid the word as well as conveying what you mean.

I get that right?

Originally posted by fooffstarr
Ok. So it is basically a respect thing?

To avoid saying (typing) it on the forum you simply remove a letter. That way you still avoid the word as well as conveying what you mean.

I get that right?

Basically.

Other people get upset if you don't capitalize Jesus and God. All of them are based on what the person feels is respectful. I think what the person says is either respectful or disrespectful rather than capitalization. But to each their own I figure.

It is a respect thing that stems from Judaism.

The idea is that, if you write God on something, it might be discarded somewhere down the line, which is seen as horribly disrespectful. According to jewfaq.org:

Jews do not casually write any Name of God. ...Judaism does not prohibit writing the Name of God per se; it prohibits only erasing or defacing a Name of God. However, observant Jews avoid writing any Name of God casually because of the risk that the written Name might later be defaced, obliterated or destroyed accidentally or by one who does not know better. Normally, we avoid writing the Name by substituting letters or syllables, for example, writing "G-d" instead of "God."

Though not all religions take the same tack, and may allow you to toss such printed matter, most faiths have some written way of showing respect for the sacred. For example, many Christians capitalize "His" and "Him" when they refer to God or Jesus. When Muslims write the Prophet Muhammad's name, they usually follow it with the abbreviation (pbuh), meaning "Peace be upon him.

reply to post by junglejake


OK thanks a lot.

It was just one of things I've seen around but never quite understood.

By the looks of it, Christians are adopting the practice too as I see many posts including 'G-d' in such topics lately.

But thanks for letting me know where it started and why. Between your post and the posts of the previous poster I think my question is answered.

From the Christian perspective, I've been seeing people adopting some lost practices such as this. In addition, scripture says that if something that is permissible for you to do causes your brother to stumble, you should not do it. It would be like going out with a recovering alcoholic and ordering a beer. There'd be a chance he'd go back to drinking, so you don't drink the beer, even if you have no problem with alcohol.

There is sadly a rift between Christians and Jews that should not exist, and many Christians are awakening to this fact. For many, if writing God instead of G-d is going to cause them to turn from God, or simply miss a message God wanted to communicate to them through the other individual, then you spell it G-d.

1 Corinthians 8:13: "Therefore, if food causes my brother to stumble, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause my brother to stumble."

Romans 14 also goes into this.

It's so they can flaunt their opinion without anyone being able to say anything to them. Xmas, happy holidays, jebus...it's kinda childish i think.

reply to post by junglejake


Good post Jake. I have never worried about it as its not a Christian practice to worry about letters. Its important not to use his name in a vain way. I recently learned in a theology course that Jews actually find it offensive if they over hear you saying "Yahweh" in public. It's about sacredness.

reply to post by junglejake


In my Opinion
I personally respect those that choose to do their utmost to show respect to God, however as I understood it, it was God's name not his title that was sacred...God is not God's name, I beleive YHWH(Jehovah) is....isn't it? or maybe to be Judaically PC should I have written ---- hmmmmm.
The idea that this action is based on is that God's Name is sacred, not his Title.
But being sacred and being a secret is different.
Jesus's teachings, which in my world are a fulfilment of the old Jewish writings, are that his Fathers Name should be made known throughout all the Earth...

Also in my opinion, my opinion is off topic, as the original question has been answered I thought I'd throw in my veiwpoint for your entertainment.

[edit on 15-5-2009 by Xcouncil=wisdom]

Ive always thought it was the skeptics way of taking a cheap shot at the believers, honest.

Good to know though, never thought it was out of respect.

That is done mostly by Jews. Christians prefer to use titles, like "The Lord." Interestingly, practitioners of older religions referred to their gods using titles as well.

The Ten Commandments say not to use His name in vain (eg: only use it when calling out to Him directly).

I ate the O.
Thought it was a doughnut sorry

Apparently the idea of hiding the name of God is becoming popular once again with Catholics as well, check this thread... www.belowtopsecret.com... there are several links in it showing that Catholics had begun using God's name in sermons and songs, and the Church is none to happy about poeple having the truth...
So ixsnay on the Yahweh!!