Atheists using phrases with God in them

tech77

Just curious:
Do atheists use phrases like:
God only knows, Thank God, God love you (i'm guessing not that one)
Oh my God/OMG!!, Heaven-sent, Heaven's above etc etc.

Wouldn't a committed atheist have banished these from their lexicon altogether.

BTW i didn't put this in the Atheism forum because it's more a trivial musing than anything else.

AlmightyCushion

If they do it's more a force of habit than anything else.

Driver 8

Just use them like Bender in Futurama-

"Oh...your...god!"

Rabies

AlmightyCushion wrote: »

If they do it's more a force of habit than anything else.

What he said.

I was rasied a catholic like most people here. Sayings and phrases get stuck in every day use.
No harm.

tech77

AlmightyCushion wrote: »

If they do it's more a force of habit than anything else.

A bad habit for them you would think.

JIZZLORD

as long as the phrase "holy mary, mother of god" is banished i'll be fine

Pyr0

Generally young people in Ireland are brought up believing in Jesus, God, Holy spirit etc and so are used to using the words "God" in such phrases like the ones above. So when they are able to decide whats right for themselves, phrases like that don't really matter in the religious sense. So I agree it'd just be a habit they grew up with.

biko

I also say "Inshallah" occasionally

JIZZLORD

well holy god!

tech77

Pyr0 wrote: »

Generally young people in Ireland are brought up believing in Jesus, God, Holy spirit etc and so are used to using the words "God" in such phrases like the ones above. So when they are able to decide whats right for themselves, phrases like that don't really matter in the religious sense. So I agree it'd just be a habit they grew up with.

But would a fellow atheist frown on this habitual use.
Say Atheist 1 said "God bless you" or "God love you" to Atheist 2 would Atheist 2 be a bit embarrassed and give him a funny look.

There must be some phrases that atheists would not use that believers do.

Pyr0

Nah I wouldn't say so, unless they were Fundamentalist Athiests or something crazy like that ! Its just a normal thing to say IMO.

AlmightyCushion

tech77 wrote: »

But would a fellow atheist frown on this habitual use.
Say Atheist 1 said "God bless you" or "God love you" to Atheist 2 would Atheist 2 be a bit embarrassed and give him a funny look.

There must be some phrases that atheists would not use that believers do.

They'd probably laugh about. I can't see anyone getting pissed off at something so stupid and is obviously a mistake.

Sangre

well since none of these deities actually exist its pretty inconsequential whether someone uses their name or not. its not like its a blasphemoy against the atheist overlord.

Jigsaw

I am an Irish Protestant. Using the word God is just through habit for God's sake.

tech77

Pyr0 wrote: »

Nah I wouldn't say so, unless they were Fundamentalist Athiests or something crazy like that ! Its just a normal thing to say IMO.

Is there any other kind (well leaving aside the crazy bit..).
I thought Atheism was Atheism.

monkeyfudge

I'd be prone to a 'fer christ's sake' from time to time....

It's just a common phrase.. doesn't mean anything... I don't think there are any other phrases I'd use though...

flogen

Shouldn't it be the believers whom are more concerned with using phrases like the above, what with the whole "thou shalt not take thy lord's name in vain" thing?

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

what a godawful thread

robindch

tech77 wrote:

Wouldn't a committed atheist have banished these from their lexicon altogether.

As somebody over in A+A said recently, atheists will stop invoking deities they don't believe exist, when christians stop calling the days of the week after Norse gods that they don't believe exist.

Having said that though, It'll be a cold day in hell before I'll go back to christianspeak.

Driver 8

Was the use of the word hell there intended to be ironic?

Tusky

I say oh my god all the time but I'm referring to Thor.

tech77

Anyone here ever use the expression "For the love of Science!" or similar expressions.

Bounty Hunter

surprised nobody has mentioned the south park episode "go god go" - where the atheists replace god with the word science in these phrases "praise be to science"

edit: damn tech77 kinda beat me to it

tech77

Fair enough.
But I wonder do people who are born and reared atheist tend to avoid the use of religious terms in a given culture's language as much as possible.

Sinfonia

Bounty Hunter wrote: »

surprised nobody has mentioned the south park episode "go god go" - where the atheists replace god with the word science in these phrases "praise be to science"

edit: damn tech77 kinda beat me to it

lol i love that one.
OH...MY...Science.

Bounty Hunter

tech77 wrote: »

Fair enough.
But I wonder do people who are born and reared atheist tend to avoid the use of religious terms in a given culture's language as much as possible.

im sure they do but that could be as much to do with how people would always annoying say but you dont believe in such and such after every one of those expletives they said

Dirk Gently

I'm an atheist and I do use phrases like "God only knows" and some others from time to time, purely just as a common way to express myself. I do sometimes kick myself when I realise I've used such terms.

I am of course refering to Robbie Fowler when I mention God though.

remus808

tech77 wrote: »

Wouldn't a committed atheist have banished these from their lexicon altogether.

What's next? "Vegetarians looking at animals"?

Silly, silly, smartarse thread: It's a habit- end of.

tech77

karmabass wrote: »

What's next? "Vegetarians looking at animals"?

Silly, silly, smartarse thread: It's a habit- end of.

No, wasn't intended that way at all TBH.

I'm just interested in the connections between religious belief/atheism, culture and cognition/language.

What i've gathered is:
Many posters here who were raised catholic (but later became atheist) say, it's a habitual thing only.
In other words ingrained through culture growing up and retained in language albeit only semantically vestigial (ie without any real meaning for them).

So then we move onto those reared atheist:
Semantically God/Heaven etc would have no meaning for them from the outset so i guess they would still not use phrases with religious terms in them even if the pervasive culture around them was religious

I'm still waiting to hear their view to confirm this.
But If they did start using religious terms, It'd be a bit like a Christian using phrases with Allah etc in them after spending time in a Muslim country wouldn't it?

chopperbyrne

I'm a big fan of using a Miley inspired and in thick accent "O Holy God!"

Terry

I was brought up Catholic, but I wouldn't call myself an Athiest.

I don't believe in any form of higher being, but I don't like to be lumped in with one group or another.

I also use christian teminology in every day use.
It helps when people understand what you're talking about.

rubadub

clown bag wrote: »

I'm an atheist and I do use phrases like "God only knows"

Thats a smart term for an atheist to use though- as in "nobody knows".

monkeyfudge

tech77 wrote: »

So then we move onto those reared atheist:
Semantically God/Heaven etc would have no meaning for them from the outset so i guess they would still not use phrases with religious terms in them even if the pervasive culture around them was religious

Of course they would. You emulate the language and phrases you hear on a day to day basis. And these phrases are used a lot by people and in television and movies.

Hellm0

tech77 wrote: »

No, wasn't intended that way at all TBH.

I'm just interested in the connections between religious belief/atheism, culture and cognition/language.

What i've gathered is:
Many posters here who were raised catholic (but later became atheist) say, it's a habitual thing only.
In other words ingrained through culture growing up and retained in language albeit only semantically vestigial (ie without any real meaning for them).

So then we move onto those reared atheist:
Semantically God/Heaven etc would have no meaning for them from the outset so i guess they would still not use phrases with religious terms in them even if the pervasive culture around them was religious

I'm still waiting to hear their view to confirm this.
But If they did start using religious terms, It'd be a bit like a Christian using phrases with Allah etc in them after spending time in a Muslim country wouldn't it?

The use of language is heavily based upon context and culture, not to mention the dialect and idiolect of the peoples communicating. I really dont think that religion enter's into it for the most part, the meaning of such expressions as "oh my god" or "jesus h christ" is more of an explative or to express suprise rather than in any way a reference to the local cultural deity. Perhaps this is different in other cultures, IE would you say "holy f*ck thats a big hat" to the pope? Context and culture are key.

thelordofcheese

Hellm0 wrote: »

Perhaps this is different in other cultures, IE would you say "holy f*ck thats a big hat" to the pope?

Well, i would now.
If i ever meet the pope thats the first thing i'm going to say to him.

neuro-praxis

I don't use any of the above phrases. But I was raised in a pretty atheistic environment and every second expletive out of my father's mouth was "Jesus Christ!"

I had to train myself to stop using them. Now I only talk about God when I'm talking about God.

Useless fact! "goodbye" is a shortened version of "god be with you".

It's just a habit to use common sayings without any thought to their true meanings (unless your're very PC of course, can't offend athiests with a phrase with the word god in it! :rolleyes:).

ferdi

JIZZLORD wrote: »

well holy god!

chopperbyrne wrote: »

I'm a big fan of using a Miley inspired and in thick accent "O Holy God!"

just what i was thinking!

Dave!

It's irrelevent whether you're raised an atheist or raised a Christian. If you grow up in Ireland, expressions like "for gods sake!", "god bless", "for the love of jayzis!", etc., are all heard every day, dozens of times. A child growing up with those expressions being used regularly is always going to pick up on them and start using them theirselves. It's not a mystery really. By the way, they're often used by Christians who aren't supposed to take the lord's name in vain........

If god-fearing Christians don't give it much thought to use these expressions, you can bet that atheists, who don't believe in any gods, REALLY don't care that they're used.

Science H. Logic, move on with your lives!

Tar.Aldarion

I use instant classics like 'Oh my Einstein' and 'For Newton's sake'.

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

can you say hello in Irish without referencing God?

monkeyfudge

What you Hawking about?

Dord

Mordeth wrote: »

can you say hello in Irish without referencing God?

Thats one thing that pissed me off about the language!

Does anyone know if this is possible though??

Stephen

DaveMcG wrote: »

Science H. Logic, move on with your lives!

Science H. Logic is always a great crowd pleaser
I'm an atheist. The only religious based phrase I find myself using much is jesus christ/jaysus. I try to avoid such things as much as possible. I was raised a catholic though, so I guess its built in to me by now.

echosound

Raised catholic, now atheist. I'd be guilty of using phrases such as jaysus h christ or christ on a bike in exasperation alright, purely out of habit, but I have mixed it up a bit by referencing other deities. Eg "in the name of Zeus what are you doing" or "Oh - your - actual - god" (thank you bender) or "for allah's sake" etc.
Don't tend to do it very often however, don't know who you might offend, and I have plenty other words that can offend all people equally, which I tend to go for in times of exasperation in the name of equality for all.



As to saying hello in Irish, don't think there is any official way to say hello, unless you use a profoundly wandering sentiment, or just go the way of "irish-ing" up the english version, like "bhuel, a chara, conas a ta tu" (sorry stupid keyboard won't let me do fadas) etc.

Joe Robot

Joe Robot wrote: »

Thats one thing that pissed me off about the language!

Does anyone know if this is possible though??

"Hi, conas tá cúrsaí!" "Hi, hows it going" perhaps..

Dord

Deleted User wrote: »

"Hi, conas tá cúrsaí!" "Hi, hows it going" perhaps..

I guess that'd work. Thanks!

Kipperhell

tech77 wrote: »

No, wasn't intended that way at all TBH.

I'm just interested in the connections between religious belief/atheism, culture and cognition/language.
Blah blah...

You are starting with an assumption and trying to find somebody to tell you are right!
Many secular friends of mine use expressions referring to religion as it it is just common language and expression. I suggest you watch Pen and Teller's Bull****! about foul language. It might clear up a few of your views.
Atheists tend to generally accept history and religions imagery around them as part of life. All the reference to how they would object to the names of the week and any reference to God is set for the fanatical that tend to exist in a lot less numbers as there is no real set doctrine to follow.
Just because you don't belong to a religion mean little in using the imagery and storied. Leonard Cohen often refers to Jesus yet he is Jewish and lived as a monk for many years. I have a cool 3d Jesus clock because it is kitsch

I would generally say many people using sayings they don't even understand them such as "mind you Ps and Qs" and "wet your whistle".

tech77

Kipperhell wrote: »

You are starting with an assumption and trying to find somebody to tell you are right!
Many secular friends of mine use expressions referring to religion as it it is just common language and expression. I suggest you watch Pen and Teller's Bull****! about foul language. It might clear up a few of your views.
Atheists tend to generally accept history and religions imagery around them as part of life. All the reference to how they would object to the names of the week and any reference to God is set for the fanatical that tend to exist in a lot less numbers as there is no real set doctrine to follow.
Just because you don't belong to a religion mean little in using the imagery and storied. Leonard Cohen often refers to Jesus yet he is Jewish and lived as a monk for many years. I have a cool 3d Jesus clock because it is kitsch

I would generally say many people using sayings they don't even understand them such as "mind you Ps and Qs" and "wet your whistle".

No.
Don't know why people are getting so testy about this TBH.

Would a reared atheist using religious phrases in a religious culture not be akin to a reared Christian using Muslim phrases in a Muslim culture like Alayhis Salam and others found here
Maybe Christians in Muslim countries do use these phrases, i don't know.

It has to be admitted though the quotes below and others do attest to some unease/conflict among atheists between their beliefs and the prevailing language.

Stephen wrote: »

Science H. Logic is always a great crowd pleaser
I'm an atheist. The only religious based phrase I find myself using much is jesus christ/jaysus. I try to avoid such things as much as possible. I was raised a catholic though, so I guess its built in to me by now.

Joe Robot wrote: »

Thats one thing that pissed me off about the language!

Does anyone know if this is possible though??

echosound wrote: »

Raised catholic, now atheist. I'd be guilty of using phrases such as jaysus h christ or christ on a bike in exasperation alright, purely out of habit, but I have mixed it up a bit by referencing other deities. Eg "in the name of Zeus what are you doing" or "Oh - your - actual - god" (thank you bender) or "for allah's sake" etc.
Don't tend to do it very often however, don't know who you might offend, and I have plenty other words that can offend all people equally, which I tend to go for in times of exasperation in the name of equality for all.

As to saying hello in Irish, don't think there is any official way to say hello, unless you use a profoundly wandering sentiment, or just go the way of "irish-ing" up the english version, like "bhuel, a chara, conas a ta tu" (sorry stupid keyboard won't let me do fadas) etc.

So whatever about using something for kitch value as with the Jesus clock, in the case of language, it's a bit different.
Some expressions are more than just turns of phrase and do carry genuine sentiment (especially when wishing someone well etc). If these sentiments however need to employ religious terms every time they are expressed you might think this would jar with an atheist's thinking after a while.

I can't help feeling people would be better atheists if they didn't have all this religious phraseology pollluting their thinking.

Red Hand

Better atheist? Lol!:p It's not like atheism is a movement or something-it's just a term used to describe someone who is lacking the religious memoplex.;)

tech77

Jeremiah 16:1 wrote: »

Better atheist? Lol!:p It's not like atheism is a movement or something-it's just a term used to describe someone who is lacking the religious memoplex.;)

Well yeah I know it sounds funny but i'm guessing there are degrees of atheistic devoutedness (devotion sounds a bit misplaced) which i'm guessing are characterised by use of language among other things.

Better atheist = atheist more assured in their confirmation of the non-existence of God = Someone who would have greater difficulty incorporating religious terms into speech (especially if they used language judiciously which i'm sure a lot of atheists would and in the case of phrases which carry a lot of sentiment).