# Question for Atheists. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 28, 2013, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-atheists/672444 "2013-10-28T12:27:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2013, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-atheists/672444/21 "2013-10-28T14:54:33Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > I do try to avoid theistic speech habits. At least I always say “Gesundheit” to sneezers. “OMG” is pretty deeply ingrained. Same here, to all of the above. > [@elbows](#): > > Okay, but you mostly all seem to be referring to the more innocent, bless you’s, OMG’s, and some cursing when you whack your thumb. > > What about the scenario where you find yourself in an hospital waiting room silently pleading, “please God, please God…”? > > Same? Or different? I recognize the hypocrisy inherent in asking a deity I don’t believe it for something, and resort to merely hoping for the best. Whether this constitutes a transfer of some form of prayer to some other kind of non-specific supernatural force(s) capable of influencing probability is a matter for further metaphysical and/or semantic quibbling, but there you go. I fully admit to general wishful thinking from time to time. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2013, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-atheists/672444/22 "2013-10-28T14:55:35Z")
Different. I don’t actually think there’s anyone there so I would feel very odd asking something that doesn’t exist for assistance. ---
**Author:** ![half-elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@half-elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/half-elf)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2013, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-atheists/672444/23 "2013-10-28T15:05:25Z")
I was raised atheist in a very christian environment and I use all of those expressions. I recently started substituting the expression “O lord of darkness” for “Oh my god”. 😃 To hijack/ rant a little: it really gets on my nerves that christians use it (the fact that people say things like “god help us” and the like) as “proof” that deep down they believe… so don’t fight it! ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2013, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-atheists/672444/24 "2013-10-28T15:08:37Z")
> [@Innards Snacker](#): > > Nah, I don’t worry about it. I say ‘jesus christ’ and ‘damn it’ when I’m upset, I say ’ bless you’ if someone sneezes, ‘from your mouth to god’s ear’, ‘lord willing’, and all sorts of phrases like that. I’ve never had someone question my atheism. > > The one I struggle with is situations where it would be appropriate to say, "you’re in my prayers’. ‘You’re in my thoughts,’ is ok, but it doesn’t feel quite as supportive. My thoughts could be ‘what a bitch, they deserve their misfortune’ but generally that’s not the sort of prayer one would think. yeah - I find myself getting more and more aggervated when people ask me to keep something in my ‘prayers’ - as anything I would generally say in response is non-supportive and non-helpful - I usually respond with ‘sure’ realizing that my ‘good thoughts’ are just as helpful as my ‘prayers’ would be … I find myself wanting to make all kinds of snide remarks to the FB wall of ‘please pray for xxx’ - again, its non-helpful, but I always want to say “you know, if prayer worked, you wouldn’t have to be asking others to pray for it as well”. **non-helpful == starting a shitstorm conversation that will not end well** ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2013, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-atheists/672444/25 "2013-10-28T15:19:42Z")
I want a t-shirt that says, “Prayer: It’s literally the least you could do.” ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2013, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-atheists/672444/26 "2013-10-28T15:22:21Z")
Lifeline atheist, and I use all sorts of theistic phrases in my everyday speech. I’m not one to let fundamental beliefs about the nature of reality to stand in the way of a good idiom. If I’m in pain or distress, I’ll say things like, “Oh, Jesus, make it stop,” but I’m not placing any more literal meaning on the phrase than when I say (often in the next breath) “Oh, fuck me, I feel like shit.” When talking to someone else who’s having a tough time, I’ll say something like “My thoughts are with you,” never “I’ll pray for you.” Referencing a deity I don’t believe in in those circumstances feels inappropriately flippant. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2013, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-atheists/672444/27 "2013-10-28T15:22:35Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > What about the scenario where you find yourself in an hospital waiting room silently pleading, “please God, please God…”? > > Same? Or different? Doesn’t happen. ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2013, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-atheists/672444/28 "2013-10-28T15:27:05Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Lifeline atheist, and I use all sorts of theistic phrases in my everyday speech. I’m not one to let fundamental beliefs about the nature of reality to stand in the way of a good idiom. > > If I’m in pain or distress, I’ll say things like, “Oh, Jesus, make it stop,” but I’m not placing any more literal meaning on the phrase than when I say (often in the next breath) “Oh, fuck me, I feel like shit.” > > When talking to someone else who’s having a tough time, I’ll say something like “My thoughts are with you,” never “I’ll pray for you.” Referencing a deity I don’t believe in in those circumstances feels inappropriately flippant. To your last paragraph - exactly - ---
**Author:** ![Meatros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Meatros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meatros)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2013, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-atheists/672444/29 "2013-10-28T15:30:52Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > Okay, but you mostly all seem to be referring to the more innocent, bless you’s, OMG’s, and some cursing when you whack your thumb. > > What about the scenario where you find yourself in an hospital waiting room silently pleading, “please God, please God…”? > > Same? Or different? I think it’s the same. It doesn’t really matter what we say or what we believe in any particular moment. It’s not like God’s going to pop into existence if enough people believe in it. > [@Gyrate](#): > > Same here, to all of the above. > I recognize the hypocrisy inherent in asking a deity I don’t believe it for something, and resort to merely hoping for the best. Whether this constitutes a transfer of some form of prayer to some other kind of non-specific supernatural force(s) capable of influencing probability is a matter for further metaphysical and/or semantic quibbling, but there you go. I fully admit to general wishful thinking from time to time. This, basically. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2013, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-atheists/672444/30 "2013-10-28T15:51:46Z")
> [@AnaMen](#): > > Now though, I will break out with a “Jesus Motherf\*\*\*ing Christ” or similar if the occasion demands it. It’s just a rhetorical expression. I do the same, but I leave out the "\*"s. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2013, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-atheists/672444/31 "2013-10-28T15:52:16Z")
If I say “Oh my god,” it’s no different than any other idioms I might say that are not to be taken literally. Nobody questions whether I \*really \*mean it when I say “oh shit” or “fuck you.” ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2013, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-atheists/672444/32 "2013-10-28T15:59:44Z")
> [@AnaMen](#): > > I was raised by atheists, and we never used any of those phrases. I was raised by atheists and we used them all the time :p. Even to this day my parents, who are pretty explicitly _anti-religious_, still use theistic expressions in their everyday speech. We also celebrated Christmas ( presents and decorated trees ) and Easter ( family meal, baskets of candy and decorating Easter eggs ). My folks were and are pretty sane about treating cultural artifacts as cultural artifacts and embracing the secular side of holidays. ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@Silver\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Fire)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2013, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-atheists/672444/33 "2013-10-28T16:32:19Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > Okay, but you mostly all seem to be referring to the more innocent, bless you’s, OMG’s, and some cursing when you whack your thumb. > > What about the scenario where you find yourself in an hospital waiting room silently pleading, “please God, please God…”? > > Same? Or different? I’ve done something similar but I’m usually pleading to nobody in particular and basically just trying to will a good outcome on my own. It’s “please, please, please…” without the god part. I also use the phrase “oh my god” fairly regularly so if my inner begging turns into “please, please, oh my god, please…” so be it and I don’t really mean anything by it. I prayed once. It was during a particularly bad situation and was an act of “just in case” desperation so I could tell myself later that I’d done absolutely everything I could. I think I even added a “hey, just in case I’m wrong about this…” in the prayer. ---
**Author:** ![Turpentine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecd19e/32.png) [@Turpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turpentine)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2013, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-atheists/672444/34 "2013-10-28T16:38:59Z")
Atheist here- I say God- and Jesus-related phrases all the time. I don’t see what the big deal is. I may as well be saying “Thank Zeus you’re here!”. It’s just an expression. ---
**Author:** ![sentrix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ac8455/32.png) [@sentrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sentrix)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2013, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-atheists/672444/35 "2013-10-28T16:39:50Z")
bloody hell works for me. ---
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2013, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-atheists/672444/36 "2013-10-28T16:41:26Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > What about the scenario where you find yourself in an hospital waiting room silently pleading, “please God, please God…”? > > Same? Or different? I think about who to sue. ---
**Author:** ![sentrix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ac8455/32.png) [@sentrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sentrix)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2013, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-atheists/672444/37 "2013-10-28T16:43:39Z")
ok. i am guilty of crying out ‘oh my gawd’ during sex. i got called on it and i had no answer. 'oh gawd’well he or she gets them all the time i suspect. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2013, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-atheists/672444/38 "2013-10-28T16:47:53Z")
> [@sentrix](#): > > bloody hell works for me. “Bloody” being a contraction of “By Our Lady”, by the way, and Hell of course is also religion-derived. There’s no escape. ---
**Author:** ![sentrix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ac8455/32.png) [@sentrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sentrix)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2013, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-atheists/672444/39 "2013-10-28T16:54:05Z")
works for me better during sex than crying ‘oh my sun god’ . bloody hell is an aussie thingy. like ‘bloody hell, here’s the coffee.’ ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2013, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-atheists/672444/40 "2013-10-28T17:02:52Z")
I say “Oh god,” or “Jesus Christ” or the like. I usually say “Bless you” as well. And “If the creek don’t rise and the Lord’s willing.” But I don’t pray. I rarely prayed when I was a believer, and I don’t pray at all now. I can think “I really hope this is true/false/okay” without any belief that my hope means anything for the universe. I might say, “Oh god!” but I’m not talking to anyone. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-atheists/672444.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-atheists/672444.md?page=3)