Please stop disrespecting other believers

[Brickjectivity]

This is a general debates section, and here many members are theists without being Abrahamic theists (Christians, Muslims, Jews). Yet many folk put "God" in thread title while only referring to the Abrahamic God. Nobody would do this if they were instead referring to God of Hinduism, Deism, Sikhism etc. I feel that this reflects an attitude that other faiths and beliefs don't matter.

If you feel that this is a fair criticism, I would request everybody to please specify whose God you are referring to when posting on the General section. Thank you.

I don't think this is workable. I have inquired as to whether Om and Logos are the same, and the answer is always 'Not exactly' or 'No'. You have to distinguish between the two. Krishna is not exactly Jesus. Am I to be expected to specify 'The Christian Jesus' when I talk about Jesus? No. Hindus do not need to use the term 'God', so let them use their terms. It is a Christian term. Its not Muslim and not really even Jewish.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

This is a general debates section, and here many members are theists without being Abrahamic theists (Christians, Muslims, Jews). Yet many folk put "God" in thread title while only referring to the Abrahamic God. Nobody would do this if they were instead referring to God of Hinduism, Deism, Sikhism etc. I feel that this reflects an attitude that other faiths and beliefs don't matter.

If you feel that this is a fair criticism, I would request everybody to please specify whose God you are referring to when posting on the General section. Thank you.

I agree that there are plenty of monotheistic religions besides the Abrahamics, but the capitalization on "God" indicates a proper noun: not just "a god" or "the god," but a god named "God". How many of those other monotheistic religions named their god "God" (or the equivalent in their language)?

 

[sayak83]

I don't think this is workable. I have inquired as to whether Om and Logos are the same, and the answer is always 'Not exactly' or 'No'. You have to distinguish between the two. Krishna is not exactly Jesus. Am I to be expected to specify 'The Christian Jesus' when I talk about Jesus? No. Hindus do not need to use the term 'God', so let them use their terms. It is a Christian term. Its not Muslim and not really even Jewish.

God designates (in English) the Supreme personal deity in any religion, be it Yhwh, Allah, Vishnu, Siva or Ek Onkar or any other specific divinity who takes that position.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

God designates (in English) the Supreme personal deity in any religion, be it Yhwh, Allah, Vishnu, Siva or Ek Onkar or any other specific divinity who takes that position.

I disagree. It only designates gods named "God" by their followers.

Judaism and Christianity establish several names for their god (gods? I don't want to get sidetracked into the question of whether the Christian god is the Jewish god). "Allah" is just Arabic for "God".

 

[Terese]

I agree that there are plenty of monotheistic religions besides the Abrahamics, but the capitalization on "God" indicates a proper noun: not just "a god" or "the god," but a god named "God". How many of those other monotheistic religions named their god "God" (or the equivalent in their language)?

Hinduism has a share of monotheistic (belief in a Supreme God) religions, of which i'm a part of

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

Hinduism has a share of monotheistic (belief in a Supreme God) religions, of which i'm a part of

But what are the names of those gods? Are they named "God"?

 

[sayak83]

I agree that there are plenty of monotheistic religions besides the Abrahamics, but the capitalization on "God" indicates a proper noun: not just "a god" or "the god," but a god named "God". How many of those other monotheistic religions named their god "God" (or the equivalent in their language)?

How many languages have capitalization (not Indian ones)? But, for example "deva" means god and Saivism calls Siva as "Mahadeva" which would be God. More than this, religions that have a Supreme divinity who is a personal being call this being God in English whatever specific name He/She may have.

 

[Revoltingest]

I generally try to refer to "a god" or "gods".
"God" is the proper name of a particular one.

I don't know him though.....should I call him "Mr God"?
Or should it be "Mx God" in these politically correct times?

 

[sayak83]

I disagree. It only designates gods named "God" by their followers.

Judaism and Christianity establish several names for their god (gods? I don't want to get sidetracked into the question of whether the Christian god is the Jewish god). "Allah" is just Arabic for "God".

So Yhwh is a different guy?

 

[SalixIncendium]

Ah, asking for empirical evidence is blasphemy. Authoritative sources have delared, that is it.

You're right. I don't know what I was thinking just then. Shame on me for questioning a personal truth that was presented as Universal Truth.

 

[Terese]

But what are the names of those gods? Are they named "God"?

Not traditionally, no. We have Brahman, Ishwara, Bhagavan, which mean "God". But we can definitely use the word God for our Supreme Lord, so that does not mean we should be side-lined by thinking only Abrahamics believe in a Supreme God. However, i am fully aware that these people are almost always talking about the Abrahamic God, and less inclined to hear about the "Hindu God". Hinduism is not one monotheistic religion, but an umbrella term for all religions in the Indus region, monotheistic, henotheistic, what have you.

 

[sayak83]

I generally try to refer to "a god" or "gods".
"God" is the proper name of a particular one.

I don't know him though.....should I call him "Mr God"?
Or should it be "Mx God" in these politically correct times?

God is not the proper name, otherwise He would be called that in every language, which does not happen.

 

[Revoltingest]

God is not the proper name, otherwise He would be called that in every language, which does not happen.

Proper names needn't be the same in every language.
Example....
Mrs Revolt's name in English is different from her name in Beijing hua (Mandarin).

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

So Yhwh is a different guy?

Different name for the same guy. Some gods have multiple names.

 

[sayak83]

Proper names needn't be the same in every language.
Example....
Mrs Revolt's name in English is different from her name in Beijing hua (Mandarin).

Asians take on a completely unrelated English name so that Western folks can pronounce it. But that's more like a nickname. There is one and only one legal name, correct?

More relevant, in India for example "God" is translated as Isvara, the same word used to designate Vishnu by Vaishnavs or Siva by Saivaites etc. In Persian, it becomes Khoda, regardless of which theist you are.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

Not traditionally, no. We have Brahman, Ishwara, Bhagavan, which mean "God".

Do they mean "God" or do they generally correspond to "God"?

But we can definitely use the word God for our Supreme Lord, so that does not mean we should be side-lined by thinking only Abrahamics believe in a Supreme God.

A supreme god. If you're talking in the general (as is indicated by your use of "a"), it wouldn't be a proper noun.

You can give your god(s) whatever names and titles you want, but this isn't about your usage; it's about the usage by other people. Your decisions about what to call your gods will take time to percolate out into larger society.

However, i am fully aware that these people are almost always talking about the Abrahamic God, and less inclined to hear about the "Hindu God".

Again: "the Abrahamic god" and "the Hindu god" would be more correct ways to put it, I think. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I infer that you mean for these to be regular nouns, not proper nouns.

Hinduism is not one monotheistic religion, but an umbrella term for all religions in the Indus region, monotheistic, henotheistic, what have you.

Of course.

 

[Revoltingest]

Asians take on a completely unrelated English name so that Western folks can pronounce it. But that's more like a nickname. There is one and only one legal name, correct?

A mere nickname?
Don't tell them that.
The legality of it can be complicated when dealing with family in different countries.

More relevant, in India for example "God" is translated as Isvara, the same word used to designate Vishnu by Vaishnavs or Siva by Saivaites etc. In Persian, it becomes Khoda, regardless of which theist you are.

Those are still proper names.

 

[sayak83]

Do they mean "God" or do they generally correspond to "God"?


A supreme god. If you're talking in the general (as is indicated by your use of "a"), it wouldn't be a proper noun.

You can give your god(s) whatever names and titles you want, but this isn't about your usage; it's about the usage by other people. Your decisions about what to call your gods will take time to percolate out into larger society.


Again: "the Abrahamic god" and "the Hindu god" would be more correct ways to put it, I think. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I infer that you mean for these to be regular nouns, not proper nouns.


Of course.

We consider the usage of God similar to usage of the word President. Its a proper noun designating the role of Supreme Deityhood, regardless of the individual name and character of the Deity doing that role in that theism. If one is in US, saying "the President" is enough, but not if you are traveling internationally. Same with God.

 

[sayak83]

A mere nickname?
Don't tell them that.
The legality of it can be complicated when dealing with family in different countries.

Those are still proper names.

Please read the entry for Khuda in Wikipedia.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

We consider the usage of God similar to usage of the word President.

From Grammarist.com:

President is capitalized when it comes immediately before the name of a president of a country. It is not capitalized when it refers to a president but does not immediately precede the name.

President (capitalization) - Grammarist

Its a proper noun designating the role of Supreme Deityhood, regardless of the individual name and character of the Deity doing that role in that theism. If one is in US, saying "the President" is enough, but not if you are traveling internationally. Same with God.

The correct form would be "the president". In that context, it's not a proper noun. OTOH, "President Trump" would be a proper noun.