Does your belief or non-belief affect your language?

Question

Does your belief, or non-belief, influence (postitively or negatively) your usage of phrases such as "What the hell...", "God knows", "Thank God", etc.?

Answer 1

So saying 'Thank God' is good and saying 'What the hell' is bad? I always wondered why some exclamations are considered good and others bad. Even when I was a Christian I never saw what was so bad about cursing.

Answer 2

Sure it has, however I usually don't use 'God knows' very often, but I assure you that He does.
I say Thank God often and I do thank God for everything in my life.
No curse words, or taking the Lords name in vain, such as god ****.

Once recently I was asked a question that needed to be answered, but since the question went back to something nearly 50 years ago I just drew a blank. Without thinking I said, Jesus, and almost immediately I remembered everything clear as a bell.

Some narrow-minded Christians would say that I have committed a sin using the name of Jesus, but I think that calling his name is the reason the information came back to me.

grace2u

Answer 3

Recently .. i have noticed that i have been using some pretty bad language which i usually don't use .. hey that could be a new years resolution for me! anyway .. but i still believe in god just as much as i do even if i do curse .. so i don't really see what the big deal is unless you use it against someone in a harsh way! However i don't like taking the lords name in vein.

Answer 4

I think that people who truly do believe in God would not out of hand take his name in a curse. Being around people that use profanity constantly becomes very tedious because you really don't know what they are saying for certain and they have not developed the vocabulary to express their thoughts properly.

Answer 5

Good question. Lately i have noticed that i do use the word god a lot. I personally do not believe in god. I have a new job where most of my colleagues strictly live by the bible. I have noticed that i do say GOD a lot. (not goddamnit or something Like that) but they have attended me to the fact that i do. I think its part of our language or something. (i am dutch)

Answer 6

YES! LOL Good question. I began refraining from foul language the more I studied various religions... I did go from saying "God-damn" to "God bless" then when I became Wiccan, it was "Goddess bless" and so forth... now I speak a whole lot less due to the desire to only speak when of benefit to other sentient beings per Buddhism.

Answer 7

I'm an atheist, and I still use phrases such as "thank god", "god bless you" etc., in a sarcastic way.

Answer 8

I've always been an atheist, and I don't often use thank god, god know what the hell etc... usually its "what the F-ck". or "Who knows". I do exclaim JESUS!! alot, but Jesus is the guy that takes your order at the Taco Bell by my house. I guess you hear so much of this god/hell crap that you just pick it up. but just in the slang sense.

Answer 9

As an atheist, I do say those things. Not out of any belief in god, but out of habit - they are common sayings in English. They don't mean anything to me besides the obvious common useage.

But I am trying to switch from 'bless you' to 'gesundheit' - but only because I should be learning German.

Answer 10

I used them much more since leaving the church. I used to say "god damn" a lot right after I left, and "oh my God." It felt like I was filing for divorce. Eventually I stopped looking around for a bolt of lightning to hit me and got used to seeing that there was nothing to be afraid of.