Religious symbols are one of the primary themes of cusswords (along with scatological and sexual themes). In the US, and - I imagine - Europe, this is frequently Christian. My question is about the extent to which people who are not themselves Christian use this lingo, since it’s essentially part of the language and most people aren’t thinking of the literal meaning of the words anyway. (I remember reading that use of religious expressions survived 70 years of official atheism in Russia.)
The question really has have two parts to it. One about people who are Jewish or Muslim, and relates to use of specifically Christian themes. The other is about atheists, and relates to the use of religious imagery generally, whether Christian or not.
I would imagine the first might produce some significant disparity, but that the second would be limited. But let’s hear from the people.
I’m acculturated. I’ll mutter “Jesus Christ Goddamit” if I hit my finger while hammering, even though I was raised Jewish and do not, in point of fact, believe in any God.
I knew a Jewish atheist (well, sort of, he believed God had existed for something like 10[sup]-33[/sup] seconds at the beginning of the universe) in college who often said “Mother of God!”
I was raised by both of my parents to eschew curses using Christian religious language on the grounds that such language was a violation of the “taking the name of the Lord in vain” and also likely to be very offensive to someone within earshot. I’ve become Jewish by affiliation but am atheist by belief.
However, I too am well-acculturated and my default curses are “Jesus [obscene or funny infix] Christ” (as a preface to some other shit-slinging) and “Goddamn” (introductory adjective). “Fuck” probably wins in terms of all-time frequency, but it’s now specifically Christian, and it’s more of an adverb than a curse.
Just because I don’t believe in God, that doesn’t mean I can’t use His name in vain. Sometimes it’s the only kind of phrasing that satisfies. “Jesus Christ” is also a favorite of mine. To me, it’s like any other pop-culture reference to a work of fiction.
I’m much more likely to use the F word. It has so much more impact to me.
I was a Christian for 20+ years. Jesus is more of an exclamation than a curse even now that I’m a heathen unbeliever.
I’m a “Jew by choice” – a convert to Judaism. I grew up in a mixed Jewish/Lutheran family, so I got exposed to more Yiddish-based English than most of my peers. Yes, I still swear in Christian; it’s instinct.
At temple, I hear born Jews swear like Christians all the time, usually the different “Jesus Christ” variations. I grew up in a largely Catholic city, and I’ve often heard members of the Jewish side of my family swearing in Catholic: “Jesus, Mary and Joseph!”
I wonder if Montreal’s many Jews swear in Quebecois Catholic: “tabernac!”, “host!”, and so on.
My boyfriend is an atheist. He is definitely not militant about his lack of religion, but yet he actually is one of the few atheists I’ve known who doesn’t use any religious cursewords. The only religious figure of speech I’ve heard him use is “Bless you” when I sneeze (but that’s probably just because I say it to him when he sneezes )
I swear in American, where culturally acceptable (which mostly excluded Texas), including in Christian, Judeo-Christian, Scatological, and Sexually Vulgar dialects. I usually remember not to swear in Christian around my seriously Christian friends and relatives.
I’m from Québec so…yes. A large part of my swearing vocabulary is religious based. I usually swear in French when driving…being able to rattle off an “osti d’marde d’calisse ciboire de tabarnak!” at a driver that annoyed me is very therapeutic.
I also swear in English with religious words; Jesus Christ, Goddamn, etc. I also say “fuck” and it’s variants when I swear.
The only Jewish person I can remember hearing swear used “tabarnak”. He’s not very observant, though. I like the thought of hearing some of the Hassidic Jews cursing up a storm, though.
I don’t believe that God exists but if He did I would certainly want Him to damn a nail that bends when I hit it or a fork that falls between the stove and the cupboard or a computer that blue screens when I have a lot of work to do. Why should His non existence prevent me from loudly demanding that He damn these things, goddammit?
I read a study once that claimed that Catholics were more likely to blaspheme, while Protestants were more likely to use obscene/scatologic themes when swearing. This study didn’t address non Christians at all.
I’ve been an atheist for decades, my mother was raised Protestant and later converted to Catholicism, and my dad doesn’t go to church, and the church he doesn’t go to is the Catholic church. He’s an old-style Italian guy, they leave the church going to the wimminfolks. I’m pretty sure he’s still Catholic deep down, and my mother still goes to Mass when she can get someone to take her. Anyway, my mother hardly ever swears, and my father will swear on occasion, but he’ll use any swear word he knows, except “fuck”. Or at least he’s never used “fuck” around ME, his darling baby girl.
When my daughter was just learning to talk, he tried to teach her “Goddammit”, until my mother threatened him with a knife. He didn’t succeed in this effort. I did accidentally teach Lisa to say “shit” because I kept muttering it under my breath at the time, I hadn’t even realized it until the little parrot started piping up with “s’it, s’it, s’it” one time. Little kids don’t seem to hear stuff, right up until the time when your dear old Aunt Mary is sitting in the parlor with a nice hot cup of tea, and then your little darling will pronounce his/her new word, loud and crystal clear. Then YOU will say the new word, as you try to revive Dear Old Aunt Mary, who obviously knows exactly what “motherfucker” means, as hard as she might try to pretend that she doesn’t.
For the record, I use “shit” and “dammit”, mostly. I figure I can dam things, or damn them, just as effectively as any god can.
