Thee, Thou, Thy, & You

Thee, thou, and thy were used by egalitarian Quakers to mock the separation betwixt peasant and aristocrat. You was the formal form that aristocrats demanded. Thou, in all of its manifestations, was the informal form. Peculiarly, English has jettisoned thou, except for in verse and in religious settings of a few, and applied the formal you to all peoples. God was always referred to as thou and not you, because He is our aba, father, daddy, and papa.

Now, in the Church, there is a faction for the exclusive use of thou and a faction for the exclusive use of you and another group of people who have no methodology and just use whenever wherever. How should we proceed? With a broken heart and humbled spirit.

In hip-hop, there are freestyles and written songs. There are many debates about the authenticity of some artists who claim to be freestyling, but in general it is the informal form of hip-hop and songs written in advance are the formal form. Both contribute positively to the field. In hip-hop, ultimately, your preference can appear subjective and impossible to identify and/or verify independently. Regarding language, God doesn't care about the style. He cares about the content. What are we saying to Him? Are our words lip-service or are they backed by actions (corrections of our behavior toward the neighbor)?

Furthermore, we must love each other.

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Post Scriptum:
Amharic will have an analogous change as well. Antu (gender neutral) is the formal form and anchee (female) or ante (male) are the informal forms. Antu is never used for God, but it is still used for clergy and elders, although some complications arise with the former. Some people call clergy antu even if they are older than that clergy member, others do not. This is all a remnant and a vestige of the feudalism that reigned in what is today called Ethiopia for millennia. I would love to see how this all unfolds. Keep an eye out and let me know if you see any trends.