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"Oh my god!", "go to hell!", "Jesus Christ!", "soulmate" and other phrases featuring religious concepts

Quite a few atheists, including on this site, have a dislike of these phrases and avoid using them, even going so far as to comment on it when others do. (That's not a dig at people who do this, incidentally!)

How many made a conscious decision to stop saying similar things when they became atheist? Who, like me, considers it unimportant and continues to use them?

Jnei 8 Mar 3
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44 comments

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1

People that get all freaked out over these terms are no different than Christian Fundamentalists. The idea of being a "free thinker" is that we have honor the right of others to their own process. If you're going to censure me when I speak, then I have no desire to hang around. I did my time with fundemantalists, I'm done with that.

12

I use "OH MY GOD!! at lot - I say it when something is UNBELIEVABLE! 🙂

Great explanation

11

I've been known to curse in French which invokes Mary's sacred blue robe, the sacrement, and the challis of the tabernacle, but Jesus fuckin' Christ, I would never say anything to offend anyone!

Oh, now that's just showing off! 😉

I used to know a few German and Japanese curse words. I went into a slide last winter, came real close to another car's bumper. When I stopped I realized I'd been swearing in German.

@HippieChick58 lol. Ever German curse in front of a German in the States?

@EllenDale No, haven't had that privilege.

@EllenDale I lived with a German woman for five years; so I definitely have.

@JimG In sin? Damn! Lol

7

I'm okay with "Jesus Christ" as a curse word because I just get weird looks when I use, "Tom Sawyer" or "Harry Potter."

I say "Gesundheit" when people sneeze though. I cannot bring myself to implore a nonexistent creature for its favor.

JimG Level 8 Mar 3, 2018

I want to start using Harry Potter when people sneeze to see what kind of reaction I get. That could be fun!!

Lol I say that too. I can’t say “bless you”.

5

My favorites are OMG! & Jesus F''n Christ...I feel no need to stop.

5

They're 'throw-away' phrases for me.

'Oh god!'

'Jesus Christ'

'Heaven help you'

'Fucking hell'

Etc.

Phrases that have no more significance than, 'Thor's hammer', 'The blessings of Ishtar' or 'Drunk as Dionysius'

4

I do still say "oh my god" and "damn it" but I stopped saying go to hell, favoring eat a dick instead.

Yeah I agree. Eat a dick is good.

@DelilahJones33 if I'm particularly feisty "goest thou to Hell and quickly please and may Asmodeus himself suckle from your diseased teat"

Fancy pants!!! When I’m feeling feisty I just add “cunt” to the end of whatever I say. “Fuck off then cunt!” “The fuck you say cunt?” “Please pass the salt, cunt.”@LadyAlyxandrea

@DelilahJones33 ah yes I also call other cunt, though I'm told it's one of the worst things to call someone.

I guess female genitals really are the worst thing lol

Right!@LadyAlyxandrea

4

I like and frequently use all those you mentioned other than soulmate.

3

It's a hard habit to break. I gave up, it's just part of the culture,

Orbit Level 7 Dec 29, 2018
3

if you bang your knee and yell "oh shit" do witnesses think you're asking someone to defecate? do they think "oh fuck" is a request for sex? if not, then there is no reason for anyone to take your exclamations of "omg," "jesus christ" or "go to hell" literally either! (and when someone sneezes and i bless them, it is MY blessing i am bestowing, not that of some deity. i often warn the recipient that since it is my own blessing, i limit each recipient to two.)

g

3

I say all of those things (except soulmate) because they are a part of my vast swearing arsenal. I don’t say “for the love of god” anymore though. For some reason when it’s coming out of my mouth I “feel” idk something that has made me stop.

3

I couldn't give a shit, if a god related phrase sums things up best then so be it, the god bit doesn't mean anything.

Precisely my way of thinking.

3

Ironically I didn’t use these phrases when I was religious because it was “taking the lord’s name in vain” or some similar reason.
Now I use some of the phrases without thought because I am not religious anymore. Interesting that for some people it was apparently opposite. Never thought of it that way.

But “positive” religious phrases like Bless you I definitely don’t use anymore because they are so empty now.

Myah Level 6 Mar 3, 2018
2

I use them all the time. If someone gives me flak about it, I merely inform them that I also use the phrase "holy shit" but that doesn't mean I worship at the Divine Church of Fecal Matter.

2

I really view them as just more words and continue to use them.

Ditto! God dammit! ?

2

As Douglas Adams wrote, it takes a very strong-minded type of atheist to say something like "Arrgh, random fluctuations in the space-time continuum!" or "Primitive and outmoded concept on a crutch!" when you stub your toe.

2

Yup, it's unimportant.

2

I say "You are sooo good looking" when someone sneezes.

2

I say Jeezy Creezy, quoting my favoritye atheist Eddie Izzard. Or verdammt nochmal, blödes Arschloch or Idiot (same word in both languages.)

German is such a wonderful language for swearing - it'd be the best of all had Yiddish not have taken all the very best German swearwords and combined them with the best from all the other European languages!

One of my favourites, courtesy of my grandmother: "Zey shtil, farshtunklen tayvl!"

2

I actually believe soul mates could be a real thing on a molecular level. We all come from atoms, and our atoms could have been very close during the big bang. Now it's theorized but plausible

I like that 🙂

I don’t “believe” that but I definitely think it’s a cool idea.

2

I had no idea that 'soulmate' was considered religious. The concept of an immortal soul that lives on beyond death might be religious, but the idea of a soul (encompassing the consciousness and other non-physical aspects of who and what you are) that dies the moment you do doesn't strike me as particularly theistic. Even those who believe in reincarnation don't necessarily need a god to make it happen.

To me, soulmate is just a reference to someone you have a deep (usually exclusively so) emotional connection with. I'm happy to use it. I'll be quite annoyed if someone pulls me up on it.

I don't think I commonly use any of the others. But then I don't really keep a record.

I wouldn't call it religious but many atheists, in addition to rejecting the notion that such a thing exists, tend to equate it with religious phrases.

I too use "soulmate", mostly because I don't know of a better term to describe it. I also say "oh my god"and may have said "Jesus Christ" a few times, but I don't think I've ever told anyone to "go to hell" - not for any particular reason, it's just not a phrase I use.

1

I do an inner cringe on some, like 'For heavens sake' and 'For the love of christ !' - which is very Irish. But I do love using 'By all that's unholy'!

Tilia Level 7 Dec 22, 2018
1

Totally irrelevant. When the language police get on your case you know you’re in trouble! Don’t mess with people’s vernacular because you’ll fuck up their mind and creative free flow.

1

I use whatever pops out. Could be "Jeezus Kreist", "goddamn it", "holy shit"! or an old W.C. Fields favorite, "motherofpearl."

Or an old favorite from my teen years, "Chuck you Farley!"

Wow, I'd forgotten about that one. Haven't heard it in about 45 years! 😀

1

LOL I've made a very weak attempt. To me language is about communication. Many of those phrases are well known phrases, with well known connotations and communicate very clear understandings of the state of mind of the person saying them. It's become pop-culture-esque in the way these things are tossed around.

AmyLF Level 7 Mar 9, 2018
1

I use a lot of these phrases regularly, however, I respect people who are religious and if someone doesn't like me saying 'jesus christ' then I'll avoid saying things like that around them. Or at least try lol!

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