This is an interesting subject. I recently caught myself capitalizing god when a veteran said "Oh my God!" and now when I come across it I've been lower-casing the g. Does that sound like the right thing to do? And how do you handle it in an interview with a veteran when all hell breaks loose? Or is it all Hell? I'm not even sure how I handle that one even though it has come up dozens of times. I'll bet if I look through my interviews half the time Hell would be capitalized and half the time it wouldn't.
It’s definitely an interesting discussion! There is a lot to consider here, and in the end, religion is as varied as it is personal.
In general, when “god” is used nonliterally, lowercase g is the better choice. God should be capitalized in references to the deity of all monotheistic religions, so unless you know that the speaker is referring to the specific deity worshipped by a monotheists, “god” would not be capitalized.
As for “hell,” Chicago MOS says to lowercase hell and heaven except in a purely religious context - meaning in religious publications - since readers of such publications may be offended by lowercasing. I agree withe the CMOS view. However, I have to say that my own feelings towards capitalization of religious terms have shifted over time. It has not been a conscious change, but upon reflecting on it, it seems like I used to favor capitalization a lot more some years ago!
This is an interesting subject. I recently caught myself capitalizing god when a veteran said "Oh my God!" and now when I come across it I've been lower-casing the g. Does that sound like the right thing to do? And how do you handle it in an interview with a veteran when all hell breaks loose? Or is it all Hell? I'm not even sure how I handle that one even though it has come up dozens of times. I'll bet if I look through my interviews half the time Hell would be capitalized and half the time it wouldn't.
It’s definitely an interesting discussion! There is a lot to consider here, and in the end, religion is as varied as it is personal.
In general, when “god” is used nonliterally, lowercase g is the better choice. God should be capitalized in references to the deity of all monotheistic religions, so unless you know that the speaker is referring to the specific deity worshipped by a monotheists, “god” would not be capitalized.
As for “hell,” Chicago MOS says to lowercase hell and heaven except in a purely religious context - meaning in religious publications - since readers of such publications may be offended by lowercasing. I agree withe the CMOS view. However, I have to say that my own feelings towards capitalization of religious terms have shifted over time. It has not been a conscious change, but upon reflecting on it, it seems like I used to favor capitalization a lot more some years ago!