From: starr-daniel@yale.edu (Daniel Starr)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.jewish
Subject: Re: G-d or G*d?
Date: 19 Nov 1992 03:40:38 -0500
Organization: Yale University Science & Engineering UNIX(tm), New Haven, CT 06520-2158
Distribution: world
NNTP-Posting-Host: minerva.cis.yale.edu

I would like to hear more knowledgeable individuals' opinions (first or
second-hand) on this reasoning that I have concerning showing respect for
the name of HaShem:

Kings are often addressed and referred to by their honorific, "His Majesty",
as in "His Majesty was ill today", "Your Majesty, I have a favor to
request", etc.  Similarly in class students will call their teacher
"Professor" or "Rabbi" as appropriate.  

But!  All of these are merely titles.  They refer to the _function_ of
the individual, and do not _identify_ the individual.  Even if there
were only one -- as, for example, in England there is only one "Her Majesty
the Queen" -- it remains a _title_ and not a _name_.

In fact, it seems necessary that we do not give the same regard to an
individual's title as to his name, because that implies that the _identity_
is unimportant, and only the _function_ matters.  Certainly a title is
appropriate and even demanded in places, but it is only an acceptable
substitute _because we know the name behind it_.

Assume, in fact, that we did not know or care what the name was; then we
should be saying that "it does not matter which Professor [for example]
you are, as long as you are a Professor it is good enough for me."

Now, applying this to the case of respect for HaShem:
In the English language, we have a perfectly normal word "god" referring
to a supposed divine entity.  We have books such as "Gods and Godesses of
Greek Mythology".  This word is used indiscriminately to refer to any
divine entity.  Capitalized, it is used by Christians to refer to that
which they worship, not to mention by many other sects for the same purpose.

What this seems to imply is that:
If we write "G-d" or "G*d", we do NOT indicate respect for HaShem because
that is not His _name_ but a _title_ that Gentiles equally apply to those
which they worship, and so we do not at all signify that we are giving
respect to HaShem and not to Gentile gods -- worse, we indicate that
we perhaps respect those false gods as well, or rather that we respect
the idea of having a supreme deity rather than the actuality of He who
brought us out of Mimitzrayim.  

Thus, it seems to me that we should show respect for HaShem by _not_
distributing the indiscriminate respect of "G-d" but rather by applying
that respect to His name (as we know it) as such, that is, A------ or
the equivalent; or, if we apply respect to His titles, it should be
towards those that are uniquely given to Him in this world, such
as E----- and the like.

I would welcome anyone to explain any mistakes I have made, or confirm
that this is sound reasoning, or offer prior commentary of any kind on
the subject. 


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|Daniel Starr                | "Wait! Wait! Maybe THIS will work!" |
|dstarr@minerva.cis.yale.edu |                                     |
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