Ewan Croft's latest blog, 〈It Was Never a Typo〉, really struck a nerve with me. It touched on an issue that I personally feel we should all address: the gradual breakdown of politeness in our online discourse. As someone who values harmonious relationships, I want to share my own reactions to the topic Ewan opened. But before we go into that, please allow me to share some context.

Ewan left a comment on a TikTok thread saying, 「thank the gods」. Another user replied with a single word: 「god*」. For those who might not be familiar with this online convention, putting an asterisk after a word usually means a correction. If you do it to your own message, you are just fixing a typo. But if you do it to someone else, you are telling them that they made a mistake.

It Was Never a Typo - Ewan’s Blog

blog.ewancroft.uk

In this situation, that user tried to correct Ewan's 「thank the gods」 to 「thank god」. For me, this action comes across as very rude and quite uncalled for.

Here are my personal thoughts on why I find this behavior problematic.

On the use of religious expressions

I worked as a frontliner in the customer service industry for more than twenty years—handling roles such as a gamemaster, customer care representative, technical support specialist, chat agent, and community manager. If there is one golden rule you learn on your very first day in customer service, it is that you must never assume the customer shares the same religious beliefs as you. In our profession, we are trained to avoid using religious phrases altogether, or at the very least, stick to neutral terms. Trust me, there are many customers who will "educate" you if they were offended.

Of course, in our personal lives, things are different. When we are not representing a company, we all want to be genuine, natural, and true to ourselves. Because of this, we cannot help but use religious expressions in our casual everyday conversations.

We often read or hear phrases like 「God bless」, 「Bless his name」, 「thank god」, 「thank the gods」, or 「praise be」. These are personal expressions of a person's faith. When we use them, we are not forcing our beliefs on anyone.

When Ewan said 「thank the gods」, they were being authentic and conversing naturally. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that. If you are monotheistic, that is your own personal journey. But by correcting Ewan, you are imposing your own beliefs on another person, which I find very disrespectful. Ewan did nothing wrong!

If a Muslim friend says 「Bless Allah」, would you dare correct them by saying 「Jesus*」? I believe you would not, unless your goal is to intentionally create division and hatred.

It is also a neutral expression

Personally, I also view 「thank the gods」 as a common, culturally neutral expression. Even though I am monotheistic, I find myself using it from time to time. Why? Because I recognize that we all have different faiths, even if some of us happen to read the same holy texts. For me, using this phrase is a way of acknowledging and respecting your beliefs. It is my way of being inclusive and making sure you feel welcome in the conversation.

While I do use 「thank god」 as well, I try to save it for very specific contexts. I also see expressions like 「by the gods」 used widely in literature and media. Does that make them wrong? I do not think so.

Early disclosure burden

The online commenter also argued that Ewan should have disclosed their religious beliefs from the very beginning to avoid confusion, and how they would have not corrected them. I respectfully disagree with this stance. No one carries the burden of disclosing their private beliefs, especially when it has absolutely nothing to do with the topic.

Why should Ewan have to type something like 「thank the gods (btw, I'm polytheistic)」? Did the commenter truly believe that would be helpful? In my experience, doing that would only invite more judgment and hostile comments. The mere fact that the user responded with 「god*」 proves that things would have been much worse had Ewan posted a full disclosure. The only reason 「thank the gods」 did not cause a massive argument initially is that most mature readers naturally understood it as a harmless, casual expression; or literally understood it as polytheistic.

In any civilized society and any mature sapient individual, our default approach to communication should always be rooted in politeness, respect, and hospitality. We should not place heavy burdens, expectations, or pressure on the people we interact with. We learn about each other's views gradually as we build a connection. I think it is very unfair to blame the speaker, or writer in this case, for not explaining themselves earlier or disclosing anything, especially when you are the one who made a mistake and acted rudely.

In closing

To that person who corrected Ewan with 「god*」, I kindly want to remind you that we do not uplift our own faith by treating others with disrespect. There is a time and a place for gentle corrections, but when you insist that Ewan should have disclosed their religion, it becomes clear that this was not a simple misunderstanding. It was an attempt to impose your own beliefs on others. If your intentions were pure, you would have gracefully apologized and acknowledged your mistake instead of shifting the blame onto Ewan.

As mature, civilized individuals, I believe our goal should always be to stay polite, respectful, and accountable for our actions. We must not assume that the entire world revolves around us, and we should never blame others when our own assumptions and biases lead us to make mistakes. Own it, do not point fingers.

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〈When did internet comments get so mean?〉 © 2026 Yohan Yukiya Sese Cuneta.
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