Obviously there's tons of people that don't believe in God, but I can't quite understand why many atheists don't capitalize the word. It is a name, after all, and even if you don't believe God is real, the name still gets capitalized. I mean, do you refrain from capitalizing Harry Potter just because he's a fictional character? So my questions are: 1. Do you capitalize "God" 2. Do you have an explanation as to why some people (or maybe you) don't?
It depends on the usage. God if one is referring to the Judeo-Christian diety, or god, when one is used as a common noun, e.g. Biblical god, etc. So I would use it in both ways. However, as the word God can nowadays be used to refer to gods of other religion coupled with the fact that the non-religious do not attach any significance/uniqueness to the JC god, the end result is non-capitalization. It's not just because one doesn't feel that God exists.
However, I don't find many atheists I know not capitalizing the word. It's just a word, it's not the important issue at hand, nothing to get one's knickers in a twist about.
but I can't quite understand why many atheists don't capitalize the word.
They do, just not when they aren't referring to the Christian, Jewish, or Muslim god, God or Allah or Yahweh. It's only a name when in reference to their specific god, otherwise god is just a general term for a deity. God is a name, and thus capitalized when used as such. Atheists do capitalize God's name for the most part, and usually make the distinction between the word and the name by the lower or upper case g.
It's rare, but I've met a few atheists online who intentionally do not capitalize God when referring to the Judeo-Christian deity. They're annoyed by Christian fundamentalists that try to convert them and intentionally refuse to capitalize for no other reason than to be as rude and antagonistic towards Christians as possible. These are also the type of people that turn every Youtube comments section into a religious debate when they inevitably say that God is an imaginary friend for grownups (those are the actual words they use) and believe that the Westboro Baptist Church is a standard religious group. Yes, the same Westboro Baptist Church so vile about their protests that even the KKK started counter-protests against them. Needless to say, I don't associate with those people for long.
first of all, my first language is hebrew, which has no capital letters.therefore while im used to capitalizing actual first and last names and places and begining of sentences, i dont capitalize this word because i cant even remember the last time i used it in writing.
second, im lazy and dont feel like pushing shift. capital letters overall are pointless and sentences and ideas make sense even if you dont use them therefore i dont see it as such an important thing online.
third, just as many above say. i mostly use god as a word to define the idea in general and not one of the specific gods.
I'm in the "roper noun, God ; common noun, god" area. It's easy and just fine when you're talking about the Judeo-Christian-Muslim God, because we are all referring to the same deity. But in Hinduism...which god are you referring to if you wish to classify it as a god, instead of name?
Then there's placement. "God is a god."
And now because I kept talking about the word god, god looks weird.
2. Do you have an explanation as to why some people (or maybe you) don't?
i just do not capitalize. only when i write in a serious manner.
and as god is no such thing for me, you wont see me capitalize his name ever. (neither harry potter's name )
"God" is not a name. Its a species. Just like we are human. If you are Jewish, Christian, or Muslim, then your God's name is Yahweh or Jehovah or Jesus and probably others as well. Even "Allah" is not a name. That is just the Arabic word for "God". The Muslim God is also the same Yahweh/Jehova of the bible. But they won't call him Jesus. They don't believe Jesus was God, or the last prophet either. They believe Muhammad was the last one some 600 years after Christ. But capitalizing a species is up to the writer. I capitalize God but I don't really know why. I do not capitalize the words human, dog, cat, etc unless its starting a sentence.
Um....................
No, God is not a species. God is a name when referring to the specific Christian deity, and it's a common noun when used as a synonym for the word deity. A species? No, no it's not.
Allah is a name as well. If that's what you call someone, it's a name, just like "mom" can be a name if that's how you address your mother.
Or maybe mom is a species...
No, God is not a species. God is a name when referring to the specific Christian deity, and it's a common noun when used as a synonym for the word deity. A species? No, no it's not.
Allah is a name as well. If that's what you call someone, it's a name, just like "mom" can be a name if that's how you address your mother.
Weeell. Considering that the words "God" or "Lord" are used by Jews instead of the proper name (as far as I could gather, because of respect and because names supposedly carry power), one might say that those are not proper names, just as "Mister" is not a name even though it is capitalised.
From my point of view (atheist) I don't capitalize god because for me it doesn't exist, and I really see no point in capitalizing a word for no reason... Also because for me a god would just be one of many gods (Greek, Roman, etc) and not a single being.
