larry@grkermit.UUCP (Larry Kolodney) (08/24/83)
I'm sorry. I sent out a message last week asking why so many Jews used
the expletive "Jesus Christ!". I've gotten a number of responses,
ranging from polite to outraged, telling me that I shouldn't have asked
that question. Let me respond.
1. It was claimed that I was generalizing about Jews. This is true,
and I'm sorry. Where I come from (NJ) it is a very common expression
among Jews.
2. It was claimed that I was singling out Jews. This is true, but I
see no need to apologize for this. I only though it ironic that Jews,
who categorically reject the notion that Jesus Christ was anyone
special should use his name so often. This was not meant as any sort
of criticism (I use it myself), just as an observation. I supposed I
should have mentioned athiests as well but that's not the point.
My real question dealt with the development of commonly used
expletives. What causes people to use a certain word to let off steam?
I only used Jews as an example.
Again, "I'm sorry" to all those I offended by an unwise generalization.
--
Larry Kolodney (The Devil's Advocate)
{linus decvax}!genrad!grkermit!larry
(ARPA) rms.g.lkk@mit-aijoe@cvl.UUCP (Joseph I. Pallas) (08/25/83)
Why do so many atheists say "God damn it!"
rh@mit-eddie.UUCP (Randy Haskins) (08/26/83)
Why do do penquins want to eat walrus wafers? Why do so many people on the net get up in arms. Yeah, I'm mad at Larry, too. He made the mistake of asking a simple (and there was no racism or bigotry in it) question and now I have to read 10 letters a day on what a mistake he made. I mentioned that I didn't find any bigotry in his article. I would say that a lot of my friends are Jewish, but that sounds stupid. On the other hand, some of them think that I am also, so I can't be too much of an anti-Semite. (I don't bother to tell them since I might want to fool around with some of the orthodox Jewish women :-) . ) Come off it, you sensitive types. Maybe the question sounded stupid and naive, but it wasn't meant to malign anyone. -- Randwulf (Randy Haskins); Path= genrad!mit-eddie!rh or... rh@mit-ee (via mit-mc)