Why is "he" capitalized?

[Kevin]

Lol wow, I find the video, you one-up me with a .gif

[karadan]

Why is it capitalized when talking about God?

You would think if these people were so smart to be able to come up with this way to keep this religion around for so dang long, they would at least know how to follow proper grammar.

I don't capitalise god, jesus or religion. It really pisses off the fundies

[karadan]

Pondering this capitalization thing is sort of fun.  I can't help but wonder, for instance, does He pass gas?  If so, then when He passes gas, does He produce a Fart (instead of a regular old fart)?

Side topic:
Would a perfect being never fart, or would a perfect being produce perfect farts?

I'm guessing a perfect being would never need to eat as it would be 100% energy efficient. Due to there being no energy intake, it would have no waste products to expel. Because of this, I'm guessing god has no use for an anus either.

I wonder if he/it (presuming some kind of creator does exist) has any use for a phallus or some kind of proboscis. There's nothing in the bible to suggest god has copulated or needs to copulate so maybe the label of 'perfect being' also includes no sexual apparatus - action man style!

Doesn't sound very perfect to me to be honest. My willy has a great many uses.

[SteveS]

Doesn't sound very perfect to me to be honest.

Yeah - that's the problem with "perfect".  Seems to be an awfully subjective standard.....

[Hitsumei]

"God" is capitalized because in the case of the Abrahamic religions, it is used in the sense of a name, not just a classification. Same reason that if I named my kid summer, I would write "Summer" when I was referring to them.

As for "He", I don't know why "he" is used at all, let alone why it is capitalized. Animal genders are defined with "female" being the one that has the offspring. If there is a god, and it created everything, I think that call it a "female" would be more accurate. At least from a conceptual point of view. Surely God doesn't have a sex, or sexuality. That appears a little too anthropomorphic to me.

[Enoch Root]

"He" and "Him" are only capitalized in the modern translations, they aren't in the older King James bibles.

And before you go screaming about English grammar rules, come on.  Did you rant the same way when Tolkien capitalized "He" in reference to Sauron?  It's just an effort to show reverence.  And it's not like English itself is even consistent about this: does anyone know why the pronoun "I" is always capitalized but "you", "he", "she" aren't?

[Hitsumei]

And it's not like English itself is even consistent about this: does anyone know why the pronoun "I" is always capitalized but "you", "he", "she" aren't?

It's simple: "I'' am more important than "you", "him" or "her".

[curiosityandthecat]

It's simple: "I'' am more important than "you", "him" or "her".

That's debatable. In all fairness, if it weren't for all the other "him"s and "her"s out there, I'd die from any number of things: illness, malnutrition, exposure to the elements, BEARS. We only feel that the "I" is most important because we're biased. We like being alive. Being alive is a group effort, though.

[Hitsumei]

It's simple: "I'' am more important than "you", "him" or "her".

That's debatable. In all fairness, if it weren't for all the other "him"s and "her"s out there, I'd die from any number of things: illness, malnutrition, exposure to the elements, BEARS. We only feel that the "I" is most important because we're biased. We like being alive. Being alive is a group effort, though.

I wasn't being serious.

[curiosityandthecat]

I wasn't being serious.

That's what smileys are for.

[rlrose328]

Why? Arrogance. Apparently "god" being used as a pronoun simply wasn't enough, they wanted the rules of grammar to bend to their religion. I don't capitalize "he" when referring to god. I don't capitalize god anymore, either, as a protest of their absurd grammatical bullying.

My answer exactly, Will... They say it's a sign of respect... how?  It's a capital letter.  Big deal.

[Ihateyoumike]

Why is it capitalized when talking about God?

You would think if these people were so smart to be able to come up with this way to keep this religion around for so dang long, they would at least know how to follow proper grammar.

I would assume it is out of respect and reverence for god. Since there is no one there to revere, I refuse to do it.

[VanReal]

"God" is capitalized because in the case of the Abrahamic religions, it is used in the sense of a name, not just a classification. Same reason that if I named my kid summer, I would write "Summer" when I was referring to them.

As for "He", I don't know why "he" is used at all, let alone why it is capitalized. Animal genders are defined with "female" being the one that has the offspring. If there is a god, and it created everything, I think that call it a "female" would be more accurate. At least from a conceptual point of view. Surely God doesn't have a sex, or sexuality. That appears a little too anthropomorphic to me.

Great idea and thought but they would never use She because women are subservient to men according to the bibles view.  Created man in his image and created woman from man....hmmmm, no wonder we waited so long for suffrage.  So I guess they use He so we don't forget that and get all "uppity".

[Hitsumei]

Great idea and thought but they would never use She because women are subservient to men according to the bibles view.  Created man in his image and created woman from man....hmmmm, no wonder we waited so long for suffrage.  So I guess they use He so we don't forget that and get all "uppity".

I don't know if Hebrew has gender pronouns or not -- but if it does I think that would explain why god is called a "he" at least. The society was of course very patriarchal. Like most were.

The greatest human injustice becomes obvious when one realizes the brilliant thinkers, artists, and poets that were stifled, squelched, and denied the opportunity to pursue their dreams and talents because they were lucky enough to be born the wrong sex, at the wrong time. The blemish, left by this impoverishment will forever mark our species, and burden our souls.

[Cemetery]

I always capitalize God when I am talking about the Judeo-Christian god but when I talking about gods, I just use gods. Or when I am saying like your god, I use it then.

But yeah, it's stupid they do capitalize "He". They just HAD to take it one step further to dumber the minds of their followers.

YES YES & more YES.  They certainly DID have to take it a step further.