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In Response: Letters to the editor

Re: “Goddamn, we need some gridiron”, Jan. 31

As the editor of the school paper I truly can’t believe that you would let a headline use the Lord’s name in vain. These days everyone is trying not to step on other’s toes by changing the way we say and do things (an example would be BCE instead of BC), but what about those of us that still believe in God? This is extremely offensive to see especially in the school I go to and support!

You wouldn’t let a derogatory comment be printed, so why is this OK? Please don’t allow this to continue as this isn’t the first time its happened. I would like to be able to read the Met again, but I won’t feel safe doing so until I know this issue has been resolved. I just want to let you know again that it is very, very offensive to see the Lord’s name used in vain in my school paper!
Lisa Maille ldavis54@mscd.edu

Re: Letter to the editor
The commandment concerning taking the Lord’s name in vain forbids false oaths. Taking an oath or swearing is to take God as witness to what one affirms. It is to invoke the divine truthfulness as a pledge of one’s own truthfulness. A false oath calls on God to be witness to a lie. When it is truthful and legitimate, an oath highlights the relationship of human speech with God’s truth. A person commits perjury when he makes a promise under oath with no intention of keeping it. Pledging oneself by oath to commit an evil deed is contrary to the holiness of the divine name.
From http://www.vatican.va/