Today, class, let’s talk about hyphens. You find much variation in hyphen usage. There are few rights and wrongs.

Here’s what happens. Two words get linked by a hyphen, but after a few decades (or less), we stop using the hyphen. Many words you use regularly were once hyphenated: throughout, breakdown, guidelines, mindset, worldwide, outcome, outhouse, outpatient, eyewitness.

Those words have made the transition. A number of words are currently in transition, and you’ll see them spelled with and without hyphens (sometimes in the same document). Examples: co-worker, down-size, start-up, jump-start, co-pay, on-going.

When in doubt, people tend to include a hyphen. But in all of the words above, I typically do without. The goal, as always, is clear communication. If the meaning is clear without the hyphen, then why use it?

As an editor not enslaved to a particular stylebook, I adopt a progressive approach, removing hyphens long before stylebooks get around to it. I know where usage will land, so I jump ahead. I’m not alone in doing that, but I’m definitely in the minority.

Most magazines write “web-site.” I write “website.”

Most publications write “e-mail.” I write “email.” However, I write “e-letter,” which I admit appears inconsistent. So sue me.

Class dis-missed.

Six employees of a sheriff’s office in Virginia lost their jobs for liking and commenting on the Facebook page of their boss’s opponent. The US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in their favor, saying a “Like” on Facebook is protected free speech. A lower court judge had differentiated between hitting the “Like” button and posting a full comment.

What if I “Like” a page of some organization whose values don’t agree with those of the denomination I work for? What if some of my constituents made a stink about it?

I once interviewed Paul Rees, an evangelical leader, who mentioned that he subscribed to a liberal Protestant publication. When I raised my eyebrows at the mention of that publication, he told me, “I don’t agree with them, but I want to know what they’re saying.” Could he have been blackballed because of that subscription?

I’ve read books by atheists, to better understand how they view my faith. Could I be labeled as guilty by association? The political punditocracy certainly majors on this, drawing obscure connections and decreeing, “Guilty!”

Suppose I “Liked” an LGBT Facebook page. My intent might be innocent enough–just trying to keep abreast of what they are saying. But suppose I also posted on that LGBT page positive comments about LGBT lifestyles. Okay, that could get me in big trouble with my church constituency. Could it get me fired? Possibly.

Could I win a court challenge, claiming free speech? Possibly…but I would hope not. A Christian organization should be able to enforce its beliefs.

Just some musings from the intersection of technology and free speech.

Today, class, let’s talk about sentence structure.

I could have written, “Sentence structure is the subject I’d like us to talk about.” But that’s not nearly as straightforward as, “Let’s talk about sentence structure.”

Subject-verb-object. Or subject-predicate, since a sentence can consist of only a subject and verb (“You rock!”). Either way, it’s called the simple sentence structure.

“Christians love potlucks.” That’s as clear as it gets.

Yoda would say, “Love potlucks Christians do.” Cute, but not as clear.

Don’t use the simple sentence structure all the time, or your writing will feel choppy. I’ve come across folks who did that. As an editor, I had to mess up their relentlessly straightforward prose to inject rhythm and flow. You need rhythm and flow. But when you’ve got a key point to emphasize, something you want to make utterly understandable to readers, express it with subject-verb-object.

In emails, I always state a request using a simple sentence. Hanging phrases and clauses around the request, with multiple commas, just blurs the request. Likewise with important points in letters, on our websites, etc.

“I’d like to have lunch with you next week.”

Versus: “I don’t know what your schedule looks like, but if you’re interested and available, I would really appreciate the chance to have lunch with you sometime–say, next week?”

A request presented in a short, simple sentence is less likely to be overlooked. Rather, it’ll jump out at people.

Having said that, let me allow you, should you be so inclined, to leave. Or more directly: You are dismissed.

Today, class, let’s “chat” about slang.

People like to use quotation marks around slangish words.

– Teens think it’s “cool” to smoke.
– The hoodlums demanded “protection” money from the store owner.
– The movie used too many “f-bombs.”
– My “bucket list” still has three items on it.
– He “barfed” all over the back seat.
– I thought he was going to “blow a fuse.”
– The driver was “smashed.”

Are the quotes necessary? No. People know what those words mean, and nobody is being quoted. Lose the quotes.

I see this all the time–people surrounding slang and colloquialisms with quotation marks. It’s like they think they’re doing something naughty, something educated folks don’t do. “I know this isn’t a real or proper word, so please forgive me.” As an editor, I typically remove the quotes.

There is a place for using quotes. For instance, in a few words I’ll properly surround “smashed” with quotes, because I’m calling attention to the word. Other contexts arise in which quotes seem appropriate, or at least a legitimate judgment call.

But in ordinary writing, be courageous. Use slang without apology. Own the word.

And that, class, is a wrap.

Today, blessed students, let us consider Pronouns for God. I capitalized “pronouns” because we’re talking about Divinity-related pronouns, not run-of-the-mill pronouns. Some people think that’s what you should do. So let’s talk about it.

When you refer to God or Jesus, should you capitalize He, Him, and His? You, Your, and You’re? Who, Whose, and Whom? Me, my, and Mine when Jesus refers to himself? (“Yet, not My will but Yours be done.”)

Many of you were taught in Sunday school that, should you not pay proper respect by capitalizing God-pronouns, you cannot go to Heaven. I, regrettably, have no objective proof one way or the other, so don’t hold me responsible for what happens in your after-life.

However, as an editor I had to make a decision. Over 30 years ago, soon after I became my denomination’s editor, I changed our practice by opting against capitalizing. (I sort of phased it in, with a period of inconsistency, trepidation, and constant second-guessing.) During the past 30 years, I have removed thousands of capitalizations from copy submitted to me, and have thereby placed unnumbered souls in jeopardy.

I take comfort in being aligned with most popular stylebooks, and with most Bibles. Not that popular practice determines righteousness.

Capitalizing isn’t right or wrong. It’s a matter of personal preference. Decide, and be consistent. A few Bible translations capitalize, most don’t. Editors with very conservative audiences capitalize more often. My audience is conservative, but I have not yet been burned at the stake (I leave room for the possibility), so apparently room exists for tolerance.

Some people, wanting to earn even grander crowns in heaven, capitalize everything pertaining to God. Like attributes when they refer to God or Jesus–Almighty, Just, Loving, etc. “Our God is an Awesome God.” You have the Babe lying in a Manger–not just any manger, but Christ’s Manger. You have Angels and demons, Heaven and hell. But where do you draw the line? Extend it to the Bread He broke, the Water He walked on, the Donkey He rode, the Place He is going to prepare? It can get nuts.

Much easier to just lower-case everything. It has removed much stress from my life, at least until I must give an accounting in Heaven.

In Hebrew, one of the Bible’s original languages, capitalizing wasn’t an issue, because Hebrew doesn’t have upper-case and lower-case letters–just an alphabet. So Moses and David didn’t capitalize pronouns for God, yet seemed to remain in God’s good graces. The early English Bibles (Wycliffe, Tyndale, Geneva, King James) didn’t capitalize pronouns for God. The NASB and the New King James capitalize pronouns for God, but nearly every other contemporary version doesn’t (look up John 3:16 on BibleGateway.com and compare).

Capitalizing isn’t meant to show respect. It’s to differentiate something specific from something generic. We’ve got the church on the corner, and the universal Church. There are gods, and there is God. There are college presidents, and the President. Capital letters are a communication tool. Don’t sanctify them.

I do capitalize titles given to God or Jesus–Son of God, the Lord of Hosts, the King of Kings, the Good Shepherd, etc. But pronouns are different.

In some contexts, like a letter going out from a specific person, I will leave the capitalizations in because they are a reflection of that person. But in any official publications, either in print or on the web, lower-case rules my day.

Capitalizing deity pronouns presents problems. In Luke 22, the guards are beating and mocking Christ, and say these words, “Prophesy! Who hit you?” Should “you” be capitalized, since it refers to Jesus? But then, that would imply that the guard recognized Jesus as divine: “Who hit You?” See the conflict?

A similar situation occurs a few verses later, when Pilate asks, “Are You the king of the Jews?” Pilate wouldn’t have viewed Jesus as divine, so why add divinity to his use of the word “you” (as the NASB and NKJV do). There are numerous other examples.

Using lower-case prevents much hand-wringing.

However, don’t feel like you need to change your practice. I don’t want to cause you to stumble. Just because I eat meat offered to idols doesn’t mean you should violate your conscience by doing so.

That’s more than enough on that. Class dismissed.