Using the Lord's name in vain is massive sin. One of the big ones.
I am a Christian.
I am not offended by or riled up at all by that sort of language.
When we crucified Christ we whipped His back into flayed ribbons, spat on Him, gambled over His clothes, jammed thorns into His head, gave Him vinegar to quench His thirst, starved Him, jammed a spear into His lung and waited for Him to drown in His own blood. All the while we cursed Him.
To this He said "Forgive them Father, they don't know what they are doing". I don't imagine he gets to bent over "Christ on a Cracker" or even much much worse. If not... why should I?
Also, the commandment that says not to take the Lord's name in vain? I do not think this is a commandment to make sure we don't curse or use the NAME of God in disrespectful ways. I think the word "name" means reputation, and "vanity" means to serve the self. Someone who says "God ^&*% it!" after dropping a hammer on their foot is not taking the Lord's name in vain. A man who tells widows through their televisions that God wants them to send him $1000 is.
]
There is a difference between swearing--using "cuss words"--and blaspheming. At least I think so. I'm not even going to repeat X's example in the OP, but what I've always found odd is the secularists who use expressions such as these. Why say "G_d dammit" if you don't believe in God?
Most 'cuss words' are just words society has deemed to be crude and unwanted.
I've known people who scowl with ferocious disapproval on the D word, S word and the F word, who nonetheless will emit a "darn!", "Crap!" or "Screw this!" when upset... apparently without realizing those words mean exactly the same thing.
The one thing that does concern me about cussing, and that has caused me to work to bridle my tongue a bit in recent years, is the fact that cussing may "damage one's testimony" to some people. That is, they may think less of your witness as a Christian if you say words that society considers crude. I concluded that this was worth some concern and started working on moderating my language a bit.
Mainly I think we're commanded to not use God's name in vain, or disrespectfully, and not to swear oaths, especially not by heavenly things. But if plain-old cussing may damage our good reputation, avoiding it is probably best...
I personally don't say those sort of things, as far as others saying them, no I'm not offended. Very little offends me.Just out of curiosity, do comments like "Christ on a cracker", etc. bother you at all? I admit that it is something that feels like a little dig at my faith. I totally acknowledge that many times there is no ill will intended and often people are just trying to be funny (and goodness know that I've said offensive things just going for the laugh). I'm just saying that, while it's not something I dwell on, I personally don't care for it.
(and now that I've admitted that, I fully expect to see it a lot more in replies and responses to me :mrgreen
It bothers me as well. I find it quite interesting (albeit sad and disturbing) that our culture, out of all the curse words they could use, invariably choose to blaspheme God and Jesus Christ.Just out of curiosity, do comments like "Christ on a cracker", etc. bother you at all? I admit that it is something that feels like a little dig at my faith. I totally acknowledge that many times there is no ill will intended and often people are just trying to be funny (and goodness know that I've said offensive things just going for the laugh). I'm just saying that, while it's not something I dwell on, I personally don't care for it.
(and now that I've admitted that, I fully expect to see it a lot more in replies and responses to me :mrgreen
Friend, I think you just said a mouth full of truth.
While I don't like GD or other terms referring to God disrespectfully, I agree that it is FAR more likely to be a heinous sin to proclaim "God has said _____!" when He said no such thing, and that may be more the point of the matter.