Using God’s name
(From Ivor Lowcock, one of our Briefing readers in Stanwell Park, Australia.)
How far has our nation departed from its Christian heritage? A long way if we consider this comment by Dr Karl Kruszelnicki on the Adam Spencer ABC Sydney breakfast radio program on Friday 8 June 2007. Dr Karl told a story in which the pilot of a plane was faced with a difficult landing situation:
I was actually in a plane—a small plane coming from insland NSW—and they invited me up into the cockpit before 9/11, and they said, “Look, it's a bit gusty”—comma—“we might have to drop one wing”. And I didn't know what that meant. And so we were coming in, and then suddenly, we were sort of—a little bit of gusting coming in to land at Mascot—and then suddenly this gust of wind happened and one of the pilots said, “Jesus swearword Christ” ... (Sleek Geek Radio—Shorter Days and Radioactive Ciggies)
Apparently swearwords still need to be cut or edited on the ABC. Yet they don't have a problem with blaspheming the name of the Son of God.
Perhaps we Christians need to protest more often when we hear blasphemy. But at the same time we should keep in mind Peter Jensen's comment in a recent address that we need do so in a gentle manner so that we don't add to the original offence. While I would not recommend the Islamic faith to anyone, I feel we could adopt a little of their acute awareness of any criticism of their ‘god’ so we do not become desensitized.