BellaOnline Forums Religion and Spirituality Atheist Invoking *God* by name

*Atheists Who Invoke God by Name, and Other Linguistic Ironies* is the title of an essay in your Atheism section, which I found interesting. Yes, such usage is ironic, but it's just a force of habit. Mankind has always cursed in the name of the god(s) of the moment - and indeed of past gods too. In British-English the word *bugger* derives from a god by the name of Bog, who is still worshipped in the Slave languages; and in *bugger off*, *bugger me*, and similar, is a common alternative to what I will coyly call the f-word. PARAGRAPH HERE. FOR SOME REASON I CAN'T SEPARATE PARAGRAPHS ON THIS FORUM. In September 2013 I wrote a post on my personal blog that briefly explored this phenomenon. The post was titled - quotation marks - ... you and the horse you rode in on - end quotation - and can be found via Google by searching for that title preceded by my surname, barlow. The f-word is not itself the name of an earlier god, but its use reflects an ancient form of cursing that has been used in ancient religions. Or so I believe. What do you reckon?

Gordon, I'm pleased you liked that article. It was written by the previous editor, Theresa Faulkner, and she wrote some terrific pieces.

In order to paragraph, press the SHIFT key and then press ENTER.

I had to go explore your explanation for the term bugger and Merriam-Webster has a completely different explanation of its origin. According to them it comes from the Latin word for the country Bulgaria, which was associated with a group called the Bogomils who were accused of committing sodomy.

I'll go check out your article, and thanks so much for tuning into this site. I invite you to subscribe to my newsletter, if you haven't already, which will let you know when I post new articles.

Thanks for the reply, Daniel. The Bogomils' name for their god was the Slavic Bog (= God), and their alleged homosexuality was simply a baseless religious slander - similar to the common Western slander of Moslems who stand accused of doing unspeakable things to goats.

OK, SHIFT + ENTER it is. Let's see how that works. If it does, I am greatly in your debt!

Bulgaria probably contains the god's name; -l- is in many dialects an alternative to -w-, so Bulgar and Boo-gar would be the same word, in some speeches. Bulgar and Volga may be the same word; the association of rivers with gods is an ancient one. Gods' names are a fascinating study, especially from an atheist point of view, I think.

Thanks for the benefit of your research. So much information, so little time to learn it all.

Well, not so much research as speculation, Daniel. My opinions tend to be based on logic more than other people's opinions!