Is saying Oh My God offensive? A while back, I received a notification saying that it was considered offensive language. However seeing a recent topic that God and OMG are removed from the filter, I was just wondering how this term stood.

No.

Oh okay. While I'm on it, how about Jesus or Christ?

If it's not blocked, for the time being it's OK to use.

Ok, I was just wondering in case someone reported me for offensive language. I wanted to check; just because it went through the filter doesn't mean it's allowed. Thanks.

"No."

But I have recent notifications (2/6) for getting in trouble for oh my god.

Take it up to the mods. Oh my god is no different than OMG.

I'm not a mod, so take this with a grain of salt. From memory, I recall the mods saying OMG counted as saying "Oh my gosh", but the term "Oh my God" is still disallowed. I believe that was brought up when OMG was unblocked.

Really?  I don't see why that would make sense, because God alone is fine and oh my is fine, so I see no reason why they are bad combined.

I agree with you, Yankee.

Now I'm getting conflicted opinions.

Well, like I said, I could be wrong. I'm just going by what I recall from memory. This is definitely a question a modmin will have to handle for a definite answer.

Yes. Using the phrase "Oh My God" is still considered to be offensive. We allow "OMG" because it can mean many different things.

Dalek- Okay, thanks. Mind if I keep this open so others can see?

Why is that offensive?

How is the phrase offensive?  I don't understand at all why changing "gosh" to "God" makes it bad.  "God" alone is fine, so what makes it bad when added to "Oh my"?

Because it's been determined that "oh my god" is taking quote "god's name in vain", in which to some religions, is a sin, which is then considered offensive to some people.

OMG. Can stand for "omigawshh" or "oh my google"... both of which I've used in the past.  xP

Then those religious groups so terribly offended can leave. I'm catholic and not offended at all. I use the phrase.

I think we need to seriously consider why this is "offensive" to avoid stepping on the feet of a minority.

Oh yes, Lee, let's drive away a portion of the userbase. Great idea.

Also, correct me if I'm wrong but don't members of Judiasm consider taking the name in vain as an avera? And it is not also tied into Islam? That's three religions, and if you include denominations, that's at least seven different religions.

Now you may not be offended, but other people are. And it may not be as much of a minority as you seem to assume.

So let's take a poll.

Without rattling off religions, name how many people you've seen offended by omg. I've seen no one and I've been here for six-seven years. It's not about how many people under how many religions are supposed to be offended by it, it's about how many people truly feel offended and hurt when someone uses it.

And I understand that; don't patronize me.

CyndiWho is correct, the phrase "Oh my God" - when used as an exclamation of surprise (i.e. not in a religious context) is offensive to many people, and therefore not allowed. The same would go for "Jesus" and "Christ". I'm personally not offended by any of these phrases, but I can function perfectly fine on ACC without using those words. It doesn't really matter who or how many people are offended - it's how the rule currently works, and I don't think it's such an arduous task to just refrain from using those phrases on ACC.

"the phrase "Oh my God" - when used as an exclamation of surprise (i.e. not in a religious context) is offensive to many people, and therefore not allowed."

The phrase has a stigma that says it is offensive to many people and it surely is through the world to Christians, whilst I'm sure the majority of users on here do not take it personally/offensive.

"It doesn't really matter who or how many people are offended - it's how the rule currently works, and I don't think it's such an arduous task to just refrain from using those phrases on ACC."

If this is true, then why were other words lifted from the filter? If it doesn't matter who/how many people is/are offended, why was there a poll a while ago to settle the community's opinions on words such as "freaking" and the acronym "OMG"? I'm sure it wasn't an "arduous task" to refrain from using those words/phrases on ACC, but they were still lifted after showing that the majority of users found it to not be offensive. In that recent case, the quantity of people that were offended by it did matter, so why does it not now?

Alright, that was badly worded on my part. My apologies. We know that many people are offended by "taking the Lord's name in vain" - the number of reports we get on such phrases confirms that. I'm not sure that having a poll will change that, because if we decided to allow those phrases, we'd still be alienating a lot of members. Conversely, I don't think we're really alienating anyone by not allowing people to "take the Lord's name in vain" here. I can't imagine people will be put out by not being able to use those words on ACC. I use far more colourful language in my real life, and don't feel upset or annoyed that I can't use it here. There's a time and place for everything, in my opinion, but swearing around children has never had a time or place in my life. Even if that kind of swearing is not something I'm personally offended by. I know that others are, and I respect that. Hope that makes sense.

I'm offended by taking the Lord's name in vain since I'm a Catholic. If you really want to say something like that, you can just say "Oh my gosh" or "Oh my goodness".

Not trying to be snarky, but using this logic, wouldn't omfg be fine as well, as it could be assumed to mean "Oh my freaking gosh" or "Oh my freaking goodness"? I'm a Christian and am (somewhat) offended by using the Lord's name in vain, but if one assumed abbreviation is allowed, shouldn't the other one be as well? Just wondering.

This is just my personal opinion Steven, however much that means to you [ :P ] but I'd partially agree with you. Despite the possible context involving one.. or many of the words in the filter there are alternative meanings. However, it's more risky considering the smaller amount of typical substitutions.

And Lee, I actually happen know of more than 10 users, outside of the members on this thread that are against the use of god in that context.