Language and Religion (Buddhism, America, Islam, bible)

[McDweller]

Sometimes, while you are studying languages in school or learning your mother tongue from your parents, you can't help but think the interesting relationship between religion and language. It is known that language can shape one's thinking.

I was raised in a Chinese household, and my parents would use several Chinese idioms, some of which might contain roots in Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism (i.e. "老天爷" or "念经"). When I was little, I always interpreted 老天爷 literally as some sort of old man living in the sky that controlled the weather, since my nonreligious parents seemed to use it literally. I later learned it had roots in Taoism (Taoist concept of the Heavenly Way). Using Yabla.com, I found out that 念经 referred to "reciting or chanting the Buddhist scriptures". I can't say much for its accuracy, because the term just sounds like "recite scripture". I would have never guessed Buddhist, but I suppose a quick search on Google brings me to chanting Buddhist mantras. I grew up mostly in the United States, so I learned English in school since kindergarten, which had always sparked my curiosity and interest in Christianity (i.e. "Oh, my God" or "God damn it" or "God bless _____"). In middle and high schools, I studied Spanish as a "foreign language", and I was well aware of the influence of Islam and Christianity on Spanish and Hispanic cultures (i.e. "Ojalá que" or "Dios mio").

American English speakers may say something like "Oh, my God" or "God willing" or "God bless _____" or "God bless" or "Thanks be to God" or "Thank God" or "G'bless you" (after someone's sneezing) or "God help him" or a bazillion phrases from the Bible, particularly the original King James Version.

Anyway, what did you think when you first heard other people use the aforesaid idioms? Did you interpret them literally or figuratively? For those of you who might have interpreted literally, what was your first conception of the word, "God"? For those of you who might have interpreted figuratively, how quickly did you figure out it's just a figure of speech?