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by T4 on September 16th, 2007

T4

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Do atheists use the term 'Thank god!' ? For example, if their son was finally home after being 3 hours late, do they say "Thank god!" or "Thank god,a being of supernatural powers or attributes,believed in and worshiped by a people,but who doesnt exist!"?

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Answers. 29 helpful answers below.

  • by Wolfen on September 19th, 2007

    Wolfen

    I guess it's much like me using the phrase "For Pete's sake!", eventhough I don't know anyone named Pete.

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  • by Moongrim on May 29th, 2009

    Moongrim

    Force of habit.

    So when you mention a day of the week, are you giving thanks to the god that it was named after?

    Wednesday/ Woden?

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  • by tiberseptim on September 19th, 2007

    tiberseptim

    Magic 8-Ball says "As I See It Yes".

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  • by slothmister on September 16th, 2007

    slothmister

    Yes they do. Well, atleast all the athiests I know do!
    The same as when we hit our thumb with a hammer we might say "Jesus Christ" and when insulting someone it might be "Go to hell".
    As for why? No idea! it's just habbit I guess

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  • by Aimee on September 29th, 2007

    Aimee

    Well I'm an Athesit and I do. I sometimes say "For Christ's sake" or "Bloody Hell" or "Oh my God". To me, they're just figures of speach. They slip out. Like when I stub my toe or something......

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  • by Tawkingcrocodile on October 12th, 2009

    Tawkingcrocodile

    I say, "Thank Math" a lot. What with math being the only real universal truth I thought it was fitting.

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  • by Retrovampire on July 23rd, 2009

    Retrovampire

    I often say "Thank god" or "let’s pray he makes it" etc. It’s just an expression.

    I have been heard to say "Well bugger me"! But I would sooner I wasn’t. (British expression)
    Or "Well fuck me"! Again just an expression.

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  • by Lady Alathia of Vulcan on July 7th, 2009

    Lady Alathia of Vulcan

    Nah, I generally say "So, you decided to do us a favor and come home!" (points to ye who knows where that quote comes from! ^_^)

    I do use "Jesus farcking christ" as an expletive, though. Of course, if I were Christian, that would be blasphemy, so I'm okay.

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  • by Jessica on October 14th, 2009

    Jessica

    Yea sometimes I do..

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  • by Irisibis on July 27th, 2009

    Irisibis

    I do. I also say 'Jesus Christ!' when something shocks me. Isn't that taking the Lord's name in vain or something?

    It is just a turn of speech. The same way I sometimes say 'oh, crap' or any other phrase that tends to get used by society as a swear word.

    When I say it, it has no religious meaning to me. I am not thanking God. I am just meaning I am happy or glad about something.

    I am not interested enough in what I am saying to make a conscious effort to stop saying because I don't believe in God.

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  • by Aero is back and wiser on July 8th, 2009

    Aero is back and wiser

    I think for anyone like me, went from Catholic to atheism, it's just forcive habit. We say it because were so used to it and don't consider what it means spiritually. It does wear off though. I haven't said it for quite awhile. I catch myself and say "praise FSM" instead =P.

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  • by TWA on May 29th, 2009

    TWA

    Yes, of course. Such phrases are ingrained into our society that most say them without contemplating the literal meaning of the words. Humans integrate phrases just as they integrate accents into the way they already speak.

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  • by CesareBorgia on May 29th, 2009

    CesareBorgia

    Mythical beings and fictitious stories still hold meaning with our language.

    I often use the term gospel to mean absolute truth, while at the same time realising it means quite the opposite really.

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  • by LynfromNM on September 30th, 2007

    LynfromNM

    I say, "So you managed to get home safely, that's good. Now give me the keys, you don't get them for two weeks!"

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  • by -O-uknow on September 30th, 2007

    -O-uknow

    They say thank the "odds"! No miracle.. it had to happen ;)

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  • by eternal0void on September 30th, 2007

    eternal0void

    Well yes, I sometimes say things that my parents said when they were stressed, back when I was very young. Some of them involve a religion, and some do not involve a religion. Some of them would get this particular answer flagged and deleted.

    The point, of course, is that we revert to what we learned as children when we become stressed. This is largely irrelevant to our current beliefs.

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  • by Roger Kovaciny on September 19th, 2007

    Roger Kovaciny

    Nikita Khruschev frequently said "Slava Bogu!" when something that he thought was good happened. Slava Bogu is Russian for "Glory to God!" A Soviet citizen who heard this, presumably on the radio or TV, reported this to me. In his case it was just taking the name of the Lord in vain, but religion is so embedded in the Russian language you can't get away with it--Sunday for example is "Voskresennya," which is also the word for Resurrection.

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  • by MrJosh on May 29th, 2009

    MrJosh

    I do out of habit. When Christians say "Bless you" after someone sneezes, do they really believe that you might sneeze out your soul?

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  • by lizvelrene on September 21st, 2009

    lizvelrene

    I kind of do, occasionally. It's an expression, and usually I say "thank goodness" instead.

    But we weren't allowed to say that sort of thing when I was a kid. It was "taking the lord's name in vain." Even though that doesn't make much sense, that seems like a pretty positive way to use it, but whatever. We didn't do it.

    Once I grew up, I used expressions like this a lot more often, since there was no more religious guilt to stop me. I'm more likely to say "goddammit" than anything else though.:D But I'm not necessarily asking a deity to do anything when I say that, it's no more literal than any other swear-type expression.

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  • by Anonymous on July 22nd, 2009

    Anonymous

    Could say Thank Goodness

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  • by josie III on July 22nd, 2009

    josie III

    No different a figure of speech than "For Heaven's sake" or "God only knows". People still shake milk cartons even though its all homogenized now. Some customs linger for a long time.

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  • by emily6 on July 7th, 2009

    emily6

    Sure, I say 'thank god almighty' all the time. I don't have to explain to anyone my definition of that phrase or justify my use of it. I do believe in the powers of the universe which DO exist in my belief system and they don't require workshiping. The universe does like being thanked however. So your definition of an alternative god is way off according to me.

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  • by downtide on September 21st, 2009

    downtide

    I'm an atheist and I say things like this all the time. I suppose if I was religious I would be more conscious about it and probably less likely to say it.

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  • by Aristocles on November 6th, 2009

    Aristocles

    I use it sometimes, but usually I like to say, "Thank gods" or "Thank [some god no one believes in like Thor or Odin or Ra]."

    I also say:

    "Damn!" Although I'm not really damning anything.

    "S**t!" Although there's never excrement lying around to comment on.

    "Son of a ---" Although I seldom actually refer to dog or gun offspring.

    And so on.

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  • by 23Skidoo on November 6th, 2009

    23Skidoo

    Sure.
    It's an ordinary colloquialism. I also refer to Santa, The Tooth Fairy, Mother Nature etc without believing in them.

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  • by JeffreyB on May 19th, 2011

    JeffreyB

    I've never said any such thing in my life, even when I was a child and hadn't yet realized that my parents' religion was a farce. I don't personally know anyone who says such a thing either. It's pointless to thank a nonexistent thing, isn't it? If I had a son in the future who came home late, I'd just say, "I'm glad you're home safely at last!" I don't think in terms of thanking gods, and I never did.

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  • by Rockmael on November 6th, 2009

    Rockmael

    I do its just a habit

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  • by Kray417 on November 6th, 2009

    Kray417

    yeah, I use it kind of like the way you say pheew! after a near miss they mean the same thing

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  • by MrJosh on October 13th, 2009

    MrJosh

    I'm going to start saying, "Thank Logic!" and "Reason Dammit!" just out of spite.

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