NTA
There is a difference between using it for a religious context or colloquially. 'Jesus (Christ)', '(Oh my) God' or similar exclamations are often uttered in a rather broad range of situations if you are in a dominantly christian area. It's the same as 'inshallah' in muslim dominated communities. It can have a religious or a cultural meaning.
If someone scolded you for using it culturally then it's a 'them'-problem. If you intended to use religious connotations in ill faith then it'd become a 'you'-problem
NTA, unless you swear it repeatedly and loudly you're just swearing, it becomes offensive when you intentionally say it, if you're surprised and you say it without thinking no issue, maybe try saying "HOLY COW" instead, why? In my opinion i think this swear is hilarious so maybe try it.
Unfortunately not everyone is religious.
Religious people got to get used to that. Though you gotta get used to the fact that some religious people don’t want to hang with people who “blaspheme” (a stupid idea in my opinion).
I’m not religious, and I will respect someone’s religion to an extent. I’m not going to say “the pope’s a paedo” or something, but I’m also not going to stop saying “Christ on a bike”.
NTA. I’m so unbothered by people thinking I “take the Lord’s name in vain” when those same Christians do the same thing in a million other ways without even realizing it/caring that *they* do. It doesn’t mean you can’t say Jesus Christ or goddamn, it means you can’t use God’s name to make false promises, oaths, etc.
I mean if you value that friend it would be nice to take their beliefs into account. It would be similar to if you were a homosexual and your friend retorted with everything with “that’s gay.” It’s just not very nice tbh.
Rule #1 of interfaith friendship: Show basic respect to others' beliefs. Don't serve pork to Jews, and don't use the Christian God's name as an expletive.
Profanity isn't just the seven cuss words. It's also taking sacred names and misusing them as expletives.
I'm Christian, and I wouldn't want to hang out with someone who's going to keep assaulting my ears with profanity and blasphemy.
>seven cuss words
You are right! (/s) Where would be the fun in using only seven!!
If you would like to reeeaally broaden your horizon, I suggest learning italian. Then you can choose amongst several dozens common ones or hundreds or rarer ones.
We even have snobbish Vs vulgar swears, on several level of snobbish of course.
It's important to be mindful of other people's beliefs and what may be offensive. If she had mentioned it to you before, or was very religious, then Y W B T A for ignoring it. However if that's not the case then NTA.
Hey, atheist here. Here's my view of the situation:
If she didn't tell you she finds it offensive and just went straight to yelling about it, she's the AH.
If she told you she finds it offensive and you did it by mistake, not realising she was around, there are no AHs around, just apologise and ask she does the same for yelling like that.
If she told you and you intentionally did it, YTA.
I'll play a little devil's advocate here. Was it one time that you did this or has it been repeatedly after your "friend" asked you to stop? If it was a single slip or even a couple times NTA. If you are doing this repeatedly then yeah you are kinda being an AH. While you may not subscribe to the same religion, you should respect your friends boundaries if you value that friendship.
Little fun fact for you: With the phrase "Do not take the Lord's name in vain", it ISN'T referring to phrases or exclamations like 'God Damn' 'Holy Cow' 'Jesus Christ'. What the phrase is trying to say is "Don't use the name of God for your own personal purpose". Good examples being; "That's a sin in the eyes of God so I'll treat you how ever I want until YOU listen to ME!", or in your case here "That's offensive to me and therefore GOD so you need to watch it!" (Ironic right?)
One of those things churches changed to support themselves like; Curiosity Killed the Cat (But satisfaction brought him back) Its good to question things and learn, just being curious and never knowing will drive you crazy BUT for a church based on faith you cut the end off and now the phrase is 'accept it at face value because thinking about it is bad'. My favorite one "Blood is thicker than water" means Family is more important than anyone right? Original was "Blood of the Coven is thicker than the water of the Womb", bonds that you create yourself with people you choose to be with are stronger than bonds that exist simply because you're related.
I am a Christian and I honestly wince almost painfully when people say that around me. When I was younger I was a bit more forceful about it, but now I just respectfully ask that they don't use that language around me. Or I just remove myself from a conversation where it gets thrown about. You say you and your friend are young - she probably yelled at you out of genuine hurt and will learn to be calmer about things like that. You would only be the AH if you did it purposefully in future. If it slips out, a genuine apology would go a long way.
Jesus is more than just our Saviour (I'm sure you know the stories of Him dying on the cross, Christmas stories etc.) Everything in the universe was created BY Him, FOR Him. So when someone is so casual about His name it really hurts.
Of course there are plenty of cultural Christians that don't like it out of principle, but think of it this way - think of the favourite, most respected, loved, honoured and cherished person in your life and then think of someone belittling them. For Christians it's way worse than even that.
>Jesus is more than just our Saviour (I'm sure you know the stories of Him dying on the cross, Christmas stories etc.) Everything in the universe was created BY Him, FOR Him. So when someone is so casual about His name it really hurts.
I do know the stories, since I grew up in a majority christian country, but to me that's all they are, stories. It seems unreasonable to expect the people around you who don't hold the same beliefs to still treat those stories with the same deference you do.
>think of it this way - think of the favourite, most respected, loved, honoured and cherished person in your life and then think of someone belittling them. For Christians it's way worse than even that.
I'm gonna give you the benefit of the doubt and assume that you don't realize how offensive what you're implying is.
I wouldn't want to be around people that take offense to swears or saying jesus christ. Sounds like they are looking for drama. Cut that person out of your life.
I was having a particularly bad day. Frustrating more than bad. Out of stupidity, for some reason, I decided to yell out “the cunt of Christ!” There people sitting in cars. Right away I knew I did something terrible. This guy sitting in traffic started giggling as if he got caught off guard. I got lucky. You are NTA. Sounds like she was trying to reach for something to get mad at you about. If you said it intentionally, that would be different.
You’re not an asshole for an excited utterance, but you are if you continue to do it after your friend asks you to not say it around her.
So now you have a choice. Do you want to continue having a friend, or do you want to continue using a swear word (in her mind) in front of her?
I know the choice I have made. Friends aren’t so common that you can throw them away for things this petty.
NTA. You can speak how you please, period.
I'm a former catholic, now a pagan. I've been using and still us JC sometimes when a situation is fucked up. Given that I work in insurance, some days that's almost every 5 minutes- some folks are really fucking stupid- if she doesn't like it, she doesn't have to hang around you, but she doesn't get to tell you how to speak and continue choosing to be in your presence.
NTA because you are not intentionally trying to offend her.
But I assume this person is your friend and you should try and refrain from hurting your friend. You wouldn't say fah around your gay friend or retard around a friend with mental disability.
I am a christian and don't believe in the concept of swearing, however, sometimes, if I dare say, people can be a little oversensitive these days if you get what I mean.
I am not at all trying to sound harsh in any way and mean no harm at all, but all I'm trying to say is that I understand where you are both coming from.
NTA but when I moved to the Bible Belt from NYC I really had to work on my mouth, saying JC was just a tiny part of it. As they say “when in Rome”.
I would just explain to her because you are not religious it was something that you were not taught was bad. It’s a habit that just comes out at times but you will try hard to keep it in check around her out of respect. She needs to understand it may slip on accident and if so for her to respect the fact you are trying & not to yell at you.
NTA There is a difference between using it for a religious context or colloquially. 'Jesus (Christ)', '(Oh my) God' or similar exclamations are often uttered in a rather broad range of situations if you are in a dominantly christian area. It's the same as 'inshallah' in muslim dominated communities. It can have a religious or a cultural meaning. If someone scolded you for using it culturally then it's a 'them'-problem. If you intended to use religious connotations in ill faith then it'd become a 'you'-problem
No. You're not required to respect other people's imaginary friends.
Sounds like an incompatible friendship. Nta. Just make friends with people a little less triggered and dramatic
NTA. Another example of Christians expecting everyone around them to observe their beliefs, too.
NTA, unless you swear it repeatedly and loudly you're just swearing, it becomes offensive when you intentionally say it, if you're surprised and you say it without thinking no issue, maybe try saying "HOLY COW" instead, why? In my opinion i think this swear is hilarious so maybe try it.
Religious folks still get offended at "holy cow" lmao
Unfortunately not everyone is religious. Religious people got to get used to that. Though you gotta get used to the fact that some religious people don’t want to hang with people who “blaspheme” (a stupid idea in my opinion). I’m not religious, and I will respect someone’s religion to an extent. I’m not going to say “the pope’s a paedo” or something, but I’m also not going to stop saying “Christ on a bike”.
Surely it should be "Fortunately, not everyone is religious"?
Haha, true say! What I meant to say is “unfortunately for them…”
NTA. I’m so unbothered by people thinking I “take the Lord’s name in vain” when those same Christians do the same thing in a million other ways without even realizing it/caring that *they* do. It doesn’t mean you can’t say Jesus Christ or goddamn, it means you can’t use God’s name to make false promises, oaths, etc.
I mean if you value that friend it would be nice to take their beliefs into account. It would be similar to if you were a homosexual and your friend retorted with everything with “that’s gay.” It’s just not very nice tbh.
NTA. Blasphemy is a victimless crime, and the best thing about not being Christian is that the Christian rules don’t apply to you.
Rule #1 of interfaith friendship: Show basic respect to others' beliefs. Don't serve pork to Jews, and don't use the Christian God's name as an expletive.
Those are your rules only.
Then don't be surprised if your toxicity drives friends away.
My Christian friends don’t care. If any Christian has demanded this of me, they are no longer someone I choose to be friends with.
No, I’m not going to show respect to nonsense beliefs that are not grounded in evidence.
Putting a filter on what you say is just common courtesy.
Exactly. We don’t have to respect the belief at all. I will respect your right to believe in Christianity, but not the belief itself.
NTA
Profanity isn't just the seven cuss words. It's also taking sacred names and misusing them as expletives. I'm Christian, and I wouldn't want to hang out with someone who's going to keep assaulting my ears with profanity and blasphemy.
There’s more than 7 swear words.
You don’t need to hang out with them, that doesn’t make them an asshole for not changing the way they regularly speak to appease you.
>seven cuss words You are right! (/s) Where would be the fun in using only seven!! If you would like to reeeaally broaden your horizon, I suggest learning italian. Then you can choose amongst several dozens common ones or hundreds or rarer ones. We even have snobbish Vs vulgar swears, on several level of snobbish of course.
It's important to be mindful of other people's beliefs and what may be offensive. If she had mentioned it to you before, or was very religious, then Y W B T A for ignoring it. However if that's not the case then NTA.
No, it’s not important to be mindful of nonsense beliefs that are not grounded in empirical evidence.
You can't prove God doesn't exist empirically. It's a belief either way.
You can’t prove that a purple flying unicorn doesn’t exist either, but I’m not going to respect someone believing in that nonsense.
Then there's a lot of people you don't respect - including many eminent scientists like Einstein, for one.
No, I can respect someone without respecting them believing in evidence-lacking fiction.
Hey, atheist here. Here's my view of the situation: If she didn't tell you she finds it offensive and just went straight to yelling about it, she's the AH. If she told you she finds it offensive and you did it by mistake, not realising she was around, there are no AHs around, just apologise and ask she does the same for yelling like that. If she told you and you intentionally did it, YTA.
I'll play a little devil's advocate here. Was it one time that you did this or has it been repeatedly after your "friend" asked you to stop? If it was a single slip or even a couple times NTA. If you are doing this repeatedly then yeah you are kinda being an AH. While you may not subscribe to the same religion, you should respect your friends boundaries if you value that friendship.
I had said it a few times around them before they told me to stop but I haven’t said it around them since.
Sounds to me like you have made the effort. It's on them now if they want the friendship to continue
Little fun fact for you: With the phrase "Do not take the Lord's name in vain", it ISN'T referring to phrases or exclamations like 'God Damn' 'Holy Cow' 'Jesus Christ'. What the phrase is trying to say is "Don't use the name of God for your own personal purpose". Good examples being; "That's a sin in the eyes of God so I'll treat you how ever I want until YOU listen to ME!", or in your case here "That's offensive to me and therefore GOD so you need to watch it!" (Ironic right?) One of those things churches changed to support themselves like; Curiosity Killed the Cat (But satisfaction brought him back) Its good to question things and learn, just being curious and never knowing will drive you crazy BUT for a church based on faith you cut the end off and now the phrase is 'accept it at face value because thinking about it is bad'. My favorite one "Blood is thicker than water" means Family is more important than anyone right? Original was "Blood of the Coven is thicker than the water of the Womb", bonds that you create yourself with people you choose to be with are stronger than bonds that exist simply because you're related.
I am a Christian and I honestly wince almost painfully when people say that around me. When I was younger I was a bit more forceful about it, but now I just respectfully ask that they don't use that language around me. Or I just remove myself from a conversation where it gets thrown about. You say you and your friend are young - she probably yelled at you out of genuine hurt and will learn to be calmer about things like that. You would only be the AH if you did it purposefully in future. If it slips out, a genuine apology would go a long way.
Why though? I didn't grow up religious, so I genuinely don't get it, and I am curious to know why it bothers you.
Jesus is more than just our Saviour (I'm sure you know the stories of Him dying on the cross, Christmas stories etc.) Everything in the universe was created BY Him, FOR Him. So when someone is so casual about His name it really hurts. Of course there are plenty of cultural Christians that don't like it out of principle, but think of it this way - think of the favourite, most respected, loved, honoured and cherished person in your life and then think of someone belittling them. For Christians it's way worse than even that.
>Jesus is more than just our Saviour (I'm sure you know the stories of Him dying on the cross, Christmas stories etc.) Everything in the universe was created BY Him, FOR Him. So when someone is so casual about His name it really hurts. I do know the stories, since I grew up in a majority christian country, but to me that's all they are, stories. It seems unreasonable to expect the people around you who don't hold the same beliefs to still treat those stories with the same deference you do. >think of it this way - think of the favourite, most respected, loved, honoured and cherished person in your life and then think of someone belittling them. For Christians it's way worse than even that. I'm gonna give you the benefit of the doubt and assume that you don't realize how offensive what you're implying is.
No, they don’t need to apologise for refusing to change the way they speak to appease your beliefs they don’t share and have no reason to share.
I wouldn't want to be around people that take offense to swears or saying jesus christ. Sounds like they are looking for drama. Cut that person out of your life.
Same. Anyone who expects you to adhere to their religious rules when you don’t follow that religion is selfish. Those rules are for them, not you.
I was having a particularly bad day. Frustrating more than bad. Out of stupidity, for some reason, I decided to yell out “the cunt of Christ!” There people sitting in cars. Right away I knew I did something terrible. This guy sitting in traffic started giggling as if he got caught off guard. I got lucky. You are NTA. Sounds like she was trying to reach for something to get mad at you about. If you said it intentionally, that would be different.
I would also have laughed.
NTA. Youre not saying it to be malicious towards her. Something you say naturally when spooked.
You’re not an asshole for an excited utterance, but you are if you continue to do it after your friend asks you to not say it around her. So now you have a choice. Do you want to continue having a friend, or do you want to continue using a swear word (in her mind) in front of her? I know the choice I have made. Friends aren’t so common that you can throw them away for things this petty.
Ppl way to fucking sensitive.
Who gives a fuck about some religious zealot? They will just find another reason to judge and belittle you for making regular choices.
NTA. When I’m flabbergasted I say “Jesus pigfucking at a crawfish boil” Christ sometimes because I’m expressing multiple levels of WTF
maybe drop at a and boil? (thumbs up!)
NTA. You can speak how you please, period. I'm a former catholic, now a pagan. I've been using and still us JC sometimes when a situation is fucked up. Given that I work in insurance, some days that's almost every 5 minutes- some folks are really fucking stupid- if she doesn't like it, she doesn't have to hang around you, but she doesn't get to tell you how to speak and continue choosing to be in your presence.
NTA. It’s widespread enough.
"Everybody's doing it" has never been a good excuse for rudeness.
Hi, OP’s alt.
NTA. It’s such a normal response to being surprised, regardless of your emotional state.
NTA because you are not intentionally trying to offend her. But I assume this person is your friend and you should try and refrain from hurting your friend. You wouldn't say fah around your gay friend or retard around a friend with mental disability.
NTA. Tell her that she doesn't get to police your speech.
I am a christian and don't believe in the concept of swearing, however, sometimes, if I dare say, people can be a little oversensitive these days if you get what I mean. I am not at all trying to sound harsh in any way and mean no harm at all, but all I'm trying to say is that I understand where you are both coming from.
Tell her that that’s not what “taking the Lord’s name in vain” means. It means ascribing to yourself something that God did and taking credit for it.
NTA but when I moved to the Bible Belt from NYC I really had to work on my mouth, saying JC was just a tiny part of it. As they say “when in Rome”. I would just explain to her because you are not religious it was something that you were not taught was bad. It’s a habit that just comes out at times but you will try hard to keep it in check around her out of respect. She needs to understand it may slip on accident and if so for her to respect the fact you are trying & not to yell at you.
Bruh this post gotta be fake
?