It certainly has done all that you said are more... religious fascists even killed Jesus himself, then others turned around to use him as a martyr for their own cause. Jesus the idea can be a bit like Santa Claus - it can mean whatever the fuck you want it to, especially if you can gain something (profits, power, gratification, etc.) as a result?

Regardless, I like how welcoming this community is. We can do yet still more though, to avoid "othering" half the people on planet earth? (Muslims also consider Jesus as one of the Holy Prophets, and similarly to Christianity makes up 1/4th-1/3rd of all people; Hindi is much more of a stretch but they too incorporate Jesus Christ into the pantheon of various "gods" and "avatars" and the like...; and too there are Mormons, who consider themselves Christians even while mainstream Christians do not in return, and on and on it goes - there really are a lot of people who at least claim to follow what Jesus says!)

Btw - you will enjoy this one, I think, even though it is not all that relevant to this discussion imho - that isn't what taking the lord's name in vain means. Mostly, as far as I've heard, that is "claiming his name" (calling yourself by a form of it?) yet denying all the great responsibility that comes with it. i.e., it is the very self-professed Christians who in the act of demeaning you ("treat others as you would wish to be treated in return"?), were the ones performing the very act of "taking HIS name", but "in vain". It's just a fucking swear man, not a commandment-breaker, don't sweat it:-).

That said, when I was growing up, the F-bomb (YOU KNOW WHICH ONE) was a generalized swear. It was also a short-form word for a cigarette? And on top of that, partially reclaimed by some within the target community, much as the N-word. Do you see how none of that matters? I had to expend SO MUCH effort to throw away my false religious roots (Will & Grace on TV helped so much with that:-P ngl I could not stand to watch it especially when 2 men kissed - I FORCED myself to watch, over and over again, to get past the idea that it was "not normal" or "unacceptable" or "morally wrong"). So please believe me when I say: that it made up a general swear for so long is nowhere near an excuse. Whatever THEY do is on them, while what WE do is on US. Yes, fuck religious Christo-fascists who instead of lifting a finger to help someone go extremely out of their way to heap heavy burdens upon other people (btw those are Jesus' very own words - in Matthew 23:4)... but regardless of the past, who have we decided to be, here, in this place, at this time?

If it's a direct quote from a movie... that actually might be a good counter-argument. Except wait a minute, if I used that argument in order to say the F-bomb word, or the N-word, would you (or the current mods I guess) allow me to get away with that then? Whether you/they did or did not, you should not, is what I am saying. Because it "others" people. See also my reply to the other comment below my prior reply.