mark@umcp-cs.UUCP (08/20/83)
You have got to be kidding. So many people, you might ask,
but so many JEWS? What makes you think so? This is a
'have you stopped beating your wife' sort of question
which can only be answered at great length or with silence.
--
spoken: mark weiser
UUCP: {seismo,allegra,brl-bmd}!umcp-cs!mark
CSNet: mark@umcp-cs
ARPA: mark.umcp-cs@UDel-Relaylarry@grkermit.UUCP (Larry Kolodney) (08/22/83)
From mark@umcp-cs:
You have got to be kidding. So many people, you might ask,
but so many JEWS? What makes you think so? This is a
'have you stopped beating your wife' sort of question
which can only be answered at great length or with silence.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`
Calm down. It's really amazing how such an innocent question gets
people soooooo paranoid. It has been my observation that many Jews in
the NYC area, where I come from, use that expression. Are you claiming
that they don't, or that this remark is offensive, or what?--
Larry Kolodney (The Devil's Advocate)
{linus decvax}!genrad!grkermit!larry
(ARPA) rms.g.lkk@mit-aidje@5941ux.UUCP (08/24/83)
grkermit!larry asked why it is that "so many Jews" were using the phrase
"Jesus Christ" as an exclamation. One respondent immediately expressed an
objection to the Jews being singled out as offenders, an objection which
larry then characterized as "paranoid." I'd like to respond.
Whether larry realizes it or not (I'll assume not, so as not to slur his
intentions), singling "the Jews" out in public for any kind of aberration is
not a friendly act. The objection that was raised to larry's article is
anything but paranoid. Jews have no monopoly on the phrase "Jesus Christ," and
any claim that we do is going to be legitimately and predictably interpreted as
an accusation that we are disrespectful towards Christianity. As we have
learned from our history, false accusations of this nature serve only to incite
hostile feelings against us, which is something that we have had quite enough
of, thank you.
I'm not out to get heavy here. This is net.nlang, after all, a topic for
people who watch their language. It's all too easy to say something careless
or thoughtless, even with the best of intentions. If somebody says that
our words have offended him, we should apologize and not further malign him
by defending ourselves.
Dave Ellis / Bell Labs, Piscataway NJ
...!{hocda,ihnp4}!houxm!houxf!5941ux!dje
...!floyd!vax135!ariel!houti!hogpc!houxm!houxf!5941ux!djeguy@rlgvax.UUCP (Guy Harris) (08/24/83)
On the other hand, one could argue that it's still interesting that Jews use
it - if one found a lot of Christians swearing "by the beard of Allah" it would
be similar. Christians use the phrase enough that it would be hypocritical
for someone to dump on Jews for using it.
Perhaps the question could have been phrased better, pointing out why it was
curious that Jews used the phrase and emphasizing that it was NOT an attempt
to dump on them. I suspect it's used by people of all religious persuasions,
just because it has become such a common phrase in Western culture.
Thank God I'm an atheist,
Guy Harris
{seismo,mcnc,we13,brl-bmd,allegra}!rlgvax!guymmt@dciem.UUCP (Martin Taylor) (08/25/83)
Whatever made people think the original question asking why so many Jews used "Jesus Christ" as an expletive was either offensive to Jews or implied that Jews were offensive to Christians? It seemed a harmless and perhaps mildly interesting question. We understand why Catholics react to jokes about nuns, and why Christians might swear by Christ, but presumably Christ has no special relevance for Jews, so the question has a naive interest quality. Presumably the answer is that we have a well- mixed society, and to say "Jesus Christ" is just an overlearned item in the language, regardless of one's religion. Martin Taylor
laura@utcsstat.UUCP (Laura Creighton) (08/26/83)
It depends on what you are swearing for. Are you trying to get a reaction out of somebody else? Then you had better use a word that means something to THEM, rather than to you. Personally, I find that "shit" does quite nicely as it trancends the boundaries of most religious beliefs. Laura Creighton utzoo!utcsstat!laura
jsq@ut-sally.UUCP (08/30/83)
This silly business hasn't gone on long enough, so let me stir it up:
Has anybody noticed that there seems to be only one tabu on this net?
You can use any of the standard dirty words, insult almost any political,
racial, ethnic, sexual, etc., group, but you can't even inadvertently say
anything remotely critical of either Jews or the state of Israel without
having certain net users who seem to think they speak for all Jews
jump on you. (That ought to heat it up enough to move it to net.flame.)
--
John Quarterman, CS Dept., University of Texas, Austin, Texas
{ihnp4,ut-ngp}!ut-sally!jsq, jsq@utexas-780.ARPA (soon to be jsq@ut-sally.ARPA)