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1. Non-capitalised In regards to the non-capitalised, the Cambridge Guide to English Usage (2004) states that both the Chicago Manual and the Oxford Guide to Style (2002) comment that the capitalising of these pronouns is not warrant '' 'in keeping with the norms of the Bible and the Book of Common Prayer' '' - which do not capitalise the attendant pronouns. Conflict of Interests Some places may require non-capitalised pronouns when talking about the divine, such as academiæ. Of this one should be aware. For a religious believer, however, this could be offensive, and thus the believer has the right to capitalise according to their conscience. 2. Capitalised The Chicago Manual states that capitalisation is legitimate'' 'if you are writing for a religious readership or anyone else who might take lowercasing as a sign of disrespect.' '' This group may very well include the laity, priests, religious academiæ, &c. This pro-capitalisation can be seen as a symbol of affiliation: just as a nun wears a habit, a priest his robes, the capitalisation may label one inside one group and outside of another. Prejucie and Discrimination In the age of religious plurality and cultural literacy, all faiths have the right to be respected. The run-of-the-mill discrimination once prevalent in society towards ‘heathen’ faiths is no longer acceptable. It is the general rule to style a person in the manner they wish to be styled, within reason. Royalty is generally styled ‘His/Her Majesty’; a president, ‘Mr. President’; a professor, ‘Doctor’; &c. The same argument is applied to religion. It is best to avoid accusations of prejudice and discrimination, for they could potentially undermine the argument which one is making. One should style the divine the way that the particular religion or sect does. For example, the name of the divine is sacred, and so writing it is forbidden. Jews have circumnavigated this problem by means of omission: writing the divine name as G-d in lieu of '''God''', the latter being considered disrespectful in the Jewish religion. So, too, with Christianity. If a Christian sect employs capitalised attendant pronouns, then so, too, should one – that is, if one is either from that sect or is writing about/researching that sect. One should also be aware, that some religions/sects would not wish a non-believer to address the divine the same way that a believer would. A sure way to avoid confusion is to ask a believer that has some authoritative position. SEE ALSO |
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