Fistful, I don't know what to make out of that. If 'We know it's been altered...then it hasn't really been altered.' Really? If you have a glass of water, and I replace it with a glass of nitroglycerin but I tell you what I've done, you won't continue treating it as though it was water, will you?
-Or, alternatly, I alter it (water) by adding cyanide, would you drink it because you knew it had been water?
No you wouldn't, and by that action you'd be acknowledging the difference.
Crazy off-the-wall hypothetical:
1. What if Jews and the Rabbis in OT developed a social/cultural prohibition regarding saying God's name aloud? Or maybe even writing it outside the holy books. And substituted a word many English translators translate as "Lord."
2. What if almost every translator knew this and followed that custom when translating the OT Bible?
3. What if NT Jews followed the prohibition such that when they spoke, they did not pronounce God's name, but instead substituted a word translated as "Lord" into many/most English translations of the Bible?
Another way to look at it is provided by the bastion of cultural achievement, NWA.
"N-word's start to mumble, they wanna rumble
Mix 'em and cook 'em in a pot like gumbo."
Song: Straight Outta Compton
Rapper: Ice Cube
Truly, was anything lost in translation there when "N-word" was substituted due to contemporary cultural norms?
Another NWA example
"Cause I don't give a f-word about radio play
Observe the English I display."
Song: Parental Discretion iz Advised.
Rapper Dr Dre
"F-word" again allows for folk to understand that though the text has been altered, it is an accurate translation of the source text.
OK then. But I won't be learning Greek or Aramaic just to try to pick apart original texts.
I'll stop feeding the trolls but they better stop feeding me!
Your questions are not out of line. They have been addressed many times before.