Drinking, Smoking, Cussing-- They're not sins.

[ioioouiouiouio]

Stxitxchxes

It's mostly out of custom. The reasoning behind it is that writing G-d places his name into the material,and thus makes it very susceptible to defamation and desecration, even if G-d isn't his actual name. And no, we don't go "G'd" when we speak it.

Okay, thanks.  

[Babbalui]

Stxitxchxes

And saying 'G-d' is not taking his name in vain. The commandment reads "ha Shem" which is a very specific indicator. Literally it means THE Name. That is, Hashem's (notice we call him Hashem very often) actual, personally identifiable name. Most people know this name as YHWH, or YHVH. We call it the Tetragrammaton, the letters in Hebrew are Yod-hay-vav-hay. To note these days, is you aren't even capable of using this name in vain anymore, because no one knows how to pronounce it. Vowel keys did not exist in Hebrew until the 1930s or so, so we have no idea what the vowel sounds on this name are, because, the only person who regularly spoke this name (because of its sanctity), was the Kohain Gadol (high priest of the Temple), and he only said it once a year.

So, saying G-d, or Hashem, or El, or Elohim, or so on and so forth, are not taking his name in vain, because it is not THE Name, they're jsut nicknames, really.

Well, seeing as how others have already touched on the other parts more than this, I will bring up MY point.
I have not seen you up until now. I can tell that you are very well read-up on this, especially in Hebrew (something that I would love to learn how to do, read in Hebrew xd ).
Although these may be very good points by a certain perspective, I honestly do not agree with that.
If you are saying "God" in a violent manner such as a curse, then you are in fact using His name in vain.
It matters not if it is a nickname, because that is what we know Him as.
It is not what name you call Him by, but more of how you call Him by it. He understands who we are talking to when we say "God" or "YHWH" (I am only saying that last name like that because I don't fully understand why it is being used by every one else like that and I don't want to get shunned for spelling it all out. I am assuming it is because it has a much more powerful meaning than the basic "God").
So, it matters not what you call Him by, but simply how you say it. You could be thinking about Him and say "Dog poop!" and you could be directing it towards Him, but then you are actually calling Him dog poop and that would be BAAAAADDDDDDD! gonk
I am pretty sure that you get my point by now.
I am open for criticism on my point. 3nodding  

[Stxitxchxes]

Babbalui

Stxitxchxes

And saying 'G-d' is not taking his name in vain. The commandment reads "ha Shem" which is a very specific indicator. Literally it means THE Name. That is, Hashem's (notice we call him Hashem very often) actual, personally identifiable name. Most people know this name as YHWH, or YHVH. We call it the Tetragrammaton, the letters in Hebrew are Yod-hay-vav-hay. To note these days, is you aren't even capable of using this name in vain anymore, because no one knows how to pronounce it. Vowel keys did not exist in Hebrew until the 1930s or so, so we have no idea what the vowel sounds on this name are, because, the only person who regularly spoke this name (because of its sanctity), was the Kohain Gadol (high priest of the Temple), and he only said it once a year.

So, saying G-d, or Hashem, or El, or Elohim, or so on and so forth, are not taking his name in vain, because it is not THE Name, they're jsut nicknames, really.

Well, seeing as how others have already touched on the other parts more than this, I will bring up MY point.
I have not seen you up until now. I can tell that you are very well read-up on this, especially in Hebrew (something that I would love to learn how to do, read in Hebrew xd ).
Although these may be very good points by a certain perspective, I honestly do not agree with that.
If you are saying "God" in a violent manner such as a curse, then you are in fact using His name in vain.
It matters not if it is a nickname, because that is what we know Him as.
It is not what name you call Him by, but more of how you call Him by it. He understands who we are talking to when we say "God" or "YHWH" (I am only saying that last name like that because I don't fully understand why it is being used by every one else like that and I don't want to get shunned for spelling it all out. I am assuming it is because it has a much more powerful meaning than the basic "God").
So, it matters not what you call Him by, but simply how you say it. You could be thinking about Him and say "Dog poop!" and you could be directing it towards Him, but then you are actually calling Him dog poop and that would be BAAAAADDDDDDD! gonk
I am pretty sure that you get my point by now.
I am open for criticism on my point. 3nodding

This will likely just be something we disagree on. The Talmud commentary (the original part given at Sinai, not the Sanhedrin) states very clearly that the commandment says to not take 'ha-shem' in vain. And ha shem of course means the name. Not A name, the name, it is specific. And the name, which was revealed to Moses on the mountain top, is the tetragrammaton. This doesn't mean I advocate running around screaming "G-d dammit!" at the tops of your lungs, but it's not really what's being pointed at.

As for the dog poop bit, that's blaspheming, not taking his name in vain.  

[Babbalui]

It was all speculation and purely opinionated.
I honestly wish that I was able to know exactly what you were talking about, but I can only get a general idea. I figured it out, though.
I know that you are not supporting the fact of using "God" in every day cussing for fun or anything, I am just making casual conversation. 3nodding
I just don't agree with using any form of his name in vain. I don't care if I am still going to Heaven even though I cuss to "God," I just want to play it safe and stick with my upbringings. Plus, it teaches good manners, if nothing else. 3nodding