Some grammar rules for my blog

You may notice that I will write "G-d" or HaShem (Hebrew for "the name") rather than spelling it out. This is also true for the names of non-Jewish gods (no dash there because I am not speaking of a particular god but the term itself).

Please do not be offended if you see "Jsus" or "Chrstian" -- note the same is done to "All-h" or "G-d."

Why?

My "rule of thumb" is if we are speaking of a specific god (or G-d) then I err on the side of caution and use the dash or remove a letter. If we are speaking in general of "messiahs" or "gods" then I don't.

The practice comes from Deuteronomy 12:3-12:4. Jews are told to destroy everything to do with false gods. We are also told NOT to destroy anything to do with HaShem.

Since anything written can be destroyed it is erring on the side of caution to not write it in the first place. This is a rabbinical decree. The rule of thumb is that we do not explicitly writing the name of G-d anywhere other than holy books like a Siddur or Chumash (prayer book or Five Books of Moses and Haftorah).

So to be according to Hoyle the rule of writing down G-d's name applies to Hebrew and not to other languages. This is discussed in the Shach (Yoreh De'a 179:11). But I, along with many others, err on the side of caution and choose to not write down even English versions as a sign of respect for G-d.

The Talmud (Shevuot 35a-b) tells us that the rule of not writing G-d's name is specific to the seven names in the Torah. Rambam (Mishneh Torah, Yesodei HaTorah 6:1-2) agrees with your stance.

I use the word "Jsus" rather than spelling it out because some worship him as a god. The name Jesus itself is not at issue since many people (particularly Hispanics) use it as a proper name. The issue is when people use it as a name for a god. The word "god" is not a name. Jesus is a name -- but of many people alive today, not just those worshipped as gods. Those are not at issue and may be spelled out.

I extend this ban to Chrstianity. The term "christ" is Greek for messiah and again the word itself isn't at issue. But over time the term has become used as a name of the Chrstian god and thus has become a name of a god and I don't spell it out.

Sometimes I use Chrstian (without the "i") and sometimes Xian. Neither is meant to be taken as an offense. The use of an "X" is Chrstian in origen (ever hear of "Xmas"?). It comes from the first letter of chrst in greek (chrstos) is a Chi, which looks like an "X".

The possible halachic (Jewish law) problem from writing the word "chrst" out comes from the fact that "chrstos" is the Greek word for messiah (the Hebrew is "moshiach"). So not only do we have the issue of chrst being the name of a foreign god, we also have the issue that Jews know Jsus was not a messiah and it would be incorrect for us to call him one.

So false god or true G-d the rule is the same -- I don't use the full name.