I spent a couple days as a chaperone for a high school trip. During some free time, a couple of other parents were discussing religion (they were Baptist, Lutheran, and perhaps other Christian denomniations) one of them even expressed some support for Roy Moore’s (you know, that 10 commandments judge) run for Alabama Governor. As for me, the apostate Christian, I kept my mouth shut.
I noticed that some of these parents were using expressions like “Oh, Lord - what did you pack in that bag?” or “My lord, where have you been? We’re late because of you.”
It occured to me that if I had said something like “Jesus Christ, what’s in this bag?” or “Sweet Jesus, where have you been?” it probably would have been deemed offensive, shocking, even - and yet, these phrases are almost identical in meaning to the "My lord, " ones that these folks were using without shame.
What about this? Doesn’t the commandment and simple politeness warrant the removal of “Oh lord” from polite language?
I’m reminded of Penn & Teller’s Bullshit show on profanity, and how arbitrary people’s rules are on this matter.
Lord is a title. God is a title. I don’t think we really know the name of the Christian God. I know that YHWH is how it is written. I have never heard anyone take this in vain. Using “Jesus Christ” would be taking God’s name in vain.
Taking the Lord’s name “in vain” in the broadest sense means to use it deceptively or inappropriately. Most commonly, this is taken to mean you shouldn’t use God’s name when cursing; the rationale is that the majesty of the Lord is debased when used in such a way.
The examples cited–where “my Lord” is basically equivalent to an exclamation–are not equivalent to cursing, where God’s power is called upon in a specifically facetious manner. At this point then it’s a matter of opinion; the net includes some widely varying opinion, up to the ridiculous notion that anything exclamatory speech which could remind you of God is verboten; the link, for example, thinks phrases like “Oh my goodness” are taking the Lord’s name in vain. Personally, I wonder why the second commandment couldn’t be applied to loudmouth preachers beating us over the head with their parochial religious view “in the name of the Lord”.
In my opinion, this type of persnickety devotion to religious tenets often masks a personal agenda. I consider myself religious, but in the scheme of things I just don’t care if someone says “goddammit”; I’m more concerned with helping my fellow man than quibbling with his choice of words.
Most uses of Lord, Jesus, and God in everyday speech are merely abbreviated prayers, which IMHO are not using the Lord’s name in vain. It’s just that we don’t have time to say, “Lord have mercy, God bless us, or Jesus wept.” There’s no harm in superfluous prayers. If there were, the rosary readers are in big trouble. When you text-message OMG, it’s merely short for “Oh, my God, help me to understand this astounding thing.”
If you say a prayer that you immediately know God won’t grant, that’s use in vain. If you hit your thumb with a hammer, you don’t expect damnation of the hammer, your thumb, or the nail. You know right away that your impassioned plea is in vain.
Now, I could be wrong. If that’s true, then God help me to understand.