"oh, My, ---"?

[billiefan2000]

Does anyone know why atheists use the Lord's name in vain? I were watching a show that had Michael Nedow on it- the "atheist" in CA that got the words "one nation UNDER GOD" removed from the pledge alligence.

I bet he used the Lord's name in vain about 1,000 times.

It just didn't make sense to us Christians.

If Atheists don't believe in God, then why use His name in vain?

[justsaygnosis]

Because goddamn has a better ring to it than devildamn or apricotdamn etc.
Hotdamn works pretty good at the craps table when you're on a roll though.

[Nyarlathotep]

Originally posted by billiefan2000
Does anyone know why atheists use the Lord's name in vain? I were watching a show that had Michael Nedow on it- the "atheist" in CA that got the words "one nation UNDER GOD" removed from the pledge alligence.

I bet he used the Lord's name in vain about 1,000 times.

It just didn't make sense to us Christians.

If Atheists don't believe in God, then why use His name in vain?

It's an expression. If I say, "I jumped out of my skin" it does not mean that all of my muscles and internal organs jumped skyward leaving only a pile of skin behind

Saying "Goddammit" or "I swear to God" is much the same to a lot of people. It is just an expression and it doesn't mean anything.

The difference between Micheal Newdow saying something like "I swear to God" and his objection to the pledge of allegiance is a simple one. When one says "I swear to God that I am telling you the truth" that person is not trying to impose one religious beliefs (or lack of them) on anyone else, when you require a child to say the pledge, you are.

[billiefan2000]

Originally posted by justsaygnosis
Because goddamn has a better ring to it than devildamn or apricotdamn etc.
Hotdamn works pretty good at the craps table when you're on a roll though.

If you dont believe in GOD,then why take his name or the name of the son of GOD who's name is JESUS CHRIST in vain?


Or maybe like most Atheists are just flat out HYPOCRITES for saying there is no such thing as GOD but will take the name of GOD in vain.

[billiefan2000]

Originally posted by Nyarlathotep


It's an expression. If I say, "I jumped out of my skin" it does not mean that all of my muscles and internal organs jumped skyward leaving only a pile of skin behind

Saying "Goddammit" or "I swear to God" is much the same to a lot of people. It is just an expression and it doesn't mean anything.

The difference between Micheal Newdow saying something like "I swear to God" and his objection to the pledge of allegiance is a simple one. When one says "I swear to God that I am telling you the truth" that person is not trying to impose one religious beliefs (or lack of them) on anyone else, when you require a child to say the pledge, you are.


1.For one thing Newdow is a fraud,cause he lied about his Daughter's Religious Background.

2.Why not take the name of Buddha or Krishna or Allah and use it in vain,or would that be considered Politcally Incorrect,since only CHRISTIANITY can be attacked by a Secular World.

[Finella]

They probably do it partly to infuriate religious people. Look how riled up they got you, Billiefan!

I, too, find Penn (of Penn & Teller's) use of "Jesus ******* Christ" quite amusing, given his athiest stance. I'm sure it's all for the shock value.

---,---'--{@

[billiefan2000]

Originally posted by Finella
They probably do it partly to infuriate religious people. Look how riled up they got you, Billiefan!

I, too, find Penn (of Penn & Teller's) use of "Jesus ******* Christ" quite amusing, given his athiest stance. I'm sure it's all for the shock value.

---,---'--{@

They why not mock Buddha or Allah then if it is Religious Hatred or Mocking or is it only Christian Bashing.

I mean,lets tell it like it is.

This isnt Religious Bashing,just a excuse to attack Christians and if Atheists truly dont believe in GOD,then why take GOD'S name in vain?


Or is it maybe there is no such thing as ATHEISM.

[Nyarlathotep]

Originally posted by billiefan2000



1.For one thing Newdow is a fraud,cause he lied about his Daughter's Religious Background.

2.Why not take the name of Buddha or Krishna or Allah and use it in vain,or would that be considered Politcally Incorrect,since only CHRISTIANITY can be attacked by a Secular World.

1. The Newdow case is not a fraud since it is his right as a parent to object to anything he doesn't want in her education. If he were objecting to her receiving sex education classes even though she didn't mind I have a very good hunch that you would be taking this same position

2. Because "I swear to Buddha" or "Krishadammit" is not the used and and understood expression. If it were, I would presume that atheists would be saying "krishnadammit" everytime they stubbed their toe. As to why it is only acceptable to attack Christianity the simple answer is no one is attacking Christianity. Every time a non christian (whether atheist or simply a member of another religion) objects to having Christianity forced down their throat Christians react with an accusation of 'look the atheists/pagans/whatever are attacking us' It gets really old. And I don't blame Christians for this for any reason other that they are BY FAR the predominant religion in the US and thus have the most resources and manpowr to push their agenda. I presume that if I lived in India I would be just as fed up with the Hindus.

Simply put, most atheists I know would be perfectly content to leave christains alone if they would extend us the same courtesy

[Sanamas]

We use the lord's name in vain because we don't fear any sort of divine reprisals for doing so.

[rustypouch]

Originally posted by Nyarlathotep


Simply put, most atheists I know would be perfectly content to leave christains alone if they would extend us the same courtesy

I strongly agree with this. Christians are the only religious group who have ever come to my door to try to convert me. Likewise, there are many times when I've been handed christian leaflets by strangers, and I constantly find christian propaganda laying around in public places, such as bus stops, the laudromat, and on trains. The only other religious group I've encountered that even comes close to this are the hare krishas, although I've only seen them a few times in airports, and even then they were just singing like crazy people; they did not directly approach me.

[More Evolved-er]

Nyarlathotep: Because "I swear to Buddha" or "Krishadammit" is not the used and understood expression. If it were, I would presume that atheists would be saying "krishnadammit" everytime they stubbed their toe.

Not to mention, "Krishnadammit" has nowhere near the cathartic ring of a hearty, stubbed-toe "Goddammit!"

[Kally]

Seeing as how I was taught to be a brainwashed cult member from birth, I don't think it's odd at all for me to yell "OH MY GOD" at the TV or my monitor. It's a lovely way to give some of the torture back to mom and dad as well. You should see them squirm when I say "goddamnit all".

All in all I would say it's just a habit. If we don't believe in god it means nothing now does it?

Kally

Dear billiefan2000,

Most simply use it because they cannot escape their cultural norms no matter how hard they try. Also, as was mentioned, a lot of them use it as 'inflammatory' tactics, like using non-curent spellings of Christianity, etc. they can't find any constructive way to debate, so they must rely on more 'muscular' tactics.

Sincerely,

S. H.

[K-W]

Why do atheists use any word.

[Filippo Lippi]

"Christ on a bike!" is my favourite.

[Kally]

"Christ on a stick" is my favorite... lol

[the_ignored]

Originally posted by Sherlock Holmes
Dear billiefan2000,

Most simply use it because they cannot escape their cultural norms no matter how hard they try. Also, as was mentioned, a lot of them use it as 'inflammatory' tactics, like using non-curent spellings of Christianity, etc. they can't find any constructive way to debate, so they must rely on more 'muscular' tactics.

Sincerely,

S. H.

As the man said, billiefan, it's the culture we're brought up in. Just as in the Middle East, they'd say something like "Beard of the Prophet!" as an exclamation, so we'd say Godammit here. The religious words are just that ingrained into our culture.

BTW, we are not "hypocrites" for saying it. We know, and those who hear the exclamations know damned well that the person saying it is NOT offering up something for your god to curse.

What IS hypocritical, though, is when prayer is made compulsory in schools and all the kids actually have to say it, whether they believe in your god or not. In that case, it is supposed to be a prayer to an actual deity. And those who say it without meaning it (because of the rules) are made into hypocrites.

That's why compulsory schoold prayer was taken out, while students can themselves voluntarily pray and hold religous meetings, etc. outside of school hours. Of course, the religous right goes on about "our kids can't pray in school anymore!" What ********.

Another piece of hypocrosy you may want to address billiefan, is the fact that people like you want mandatory prayers in school, which as I said earlier would make hypocrites out of every non-believer there, while at the same time, you pretend to be "concerned" over atheists being "hypocrites" because we take the name of your god in vain! ;) :p

[Agammamon]

Originally posted by billiefan2000
Does anyone know why atheists use the Lord's name in vain? I were watching a show that had Michael Nedow on it- the "atheist" in CA that got the words "one nation UNDER GOD" removed from the pledge alligence.

I bet he used the Lord's name in vain about 1,000 times.

It just didn't make sense to us Christians.

If Atheists don't believe in God, then why use His name in vain?

For one thing, if I don't believe in God I can't very well take his name in vain any more than I can blaspheme, now can I?

[Graham]

Billiefan,

Maybe if you could come up with a proper name for your god, rather than just "God" then you could be more like the Hindus and such and you wouldn't have to take it so personally when people say "Goddamn".

Personally, I did try at one point to stop saying things like that, just on general principles, but the habit was too deeply engrained and I lost insterest.

My wife has occassionally been known to say "By the many arms of Vishnu" though which I tried mysself once or twice and actually found to have quite a satisfying effect. I can recommend it to anyone as a "Goddamn" substitute.

"The lord's name in vain" :rolleyes: Jesus H Christ onna stick, won't you people ever grow up?

Graham

[Crossbow]

Originally posted by billiefan2000
Does anyone know why atheists use the Lord's name in vain? I were watching a show that had Michael Nedow on it- the "atheist" in CA that got the words "one nation UNDER GOD" removed from the pledge alligence.

I bet he used the Lord's name in vain about 1,000 times.

It just didn't make sense to us Christians.

If Atheists don't believe in God, then why use His name in vain?

I have often wondered that sort of thing myself.

I know atheists and pagans that often invoke the name of god and Jesus in moments of tension.

Also, I have known a few Jews to invoke the name of Jesus.

Anyway, when I ask them about this, they usually say about the same thing, It is just an expression, it does indicate any changes in my views.

Oh well!

[CathodeRay]

From Dictionary.com:

Idiom:
in vain

1. To no avail; without success: Our labor was in vain.
2. In an irreverent or disrespectful manner: took the Lord's name in vain.
------------------------

As others have said, atheists use the word god or jesus because it's part of the culture in this country, but I think they use it as in def. 2 above.

People such as you, billiefan, use god or jesus' name in vain as in def. 1, I think.

[Gregor]

Ok - you've convinced me. I'lll swear using the names of real persons. From now on, it's

"Teal Redmannnnitt!"

and

"If that isn't a Billifan2000 up the a$#!"

[Tricky]

These are words we learned at a very young age. You simply can't escape your cultural heritage. Interestingly, the people I mostly learned cuss words from would call themselves devout Christians. My brother in law in particular cusses like a sailor with Turrete's Syndrome, but he's in church every Sunday.

So really, atheists aren't hypocrites for using the word "God" or any other religious word. We are not enjoined from using such words in any sense whatsoever. However, Christians who curse using "God" or "Jesus" are directly disobeying one of their own Ten Commandments. I think that behavior more closely fits the definition of "hypocrite"

(For the record, I don't care if Christians cuss either. They are just words for them too. I do regard the overuse of profanity by anyone as a sign of a poor vocabulary.)

[whitefork]

Penn Giliette's line is apropos here: (from memory, perhaps misquoted)

You'll notice that we take the lord's name in vain a lot, because that's the only way to take it.

[Samus]

Originally posted by billiefan2000
Or is it maybe there is no such thing as ATHEISM. okay, now you're just throwing the dolphin...

(oh, wait, we're not doing that anymore...)

Anyway, many non-religious people such as myself had a religious upbringing. I was confirmed in the Roman Catholic church. I try to avoid using phrases like "oh my God" or "god damn" because 1. I can probably find something more enlightening to say instead and 2. I know it offends people I like.

I take no offense to using the name God. After all, atheists don't believe in God, so to them it's just another word. You'll see some folks on these forums say "oh my Ed" or something similar, because an ex-moderator here (Ed) has "god" as his user rank.

Just as non-Christians refer to Santa Claus, there's nothing wrong with non-theists referring to God.

[DrMatt]

For the same reason that Christians invoke the name of the sex goddess Ishtar/Eastre/Astarte to name their feast of reincarnation in the spring: habit.

I say Oy Veh, or wow, or w00p, depending on the context. So sue me! :cool:

[Brian the Snail]

Originally posted by billiefan2000
If Atheists don't believe in God, then why use His name in vain?

I guess for the same reason that in Victorian times people used to exclaim "By Jove!" Does that mean that they believed in the Roman god Jupiter?

Or maybe like most Atheists are just flat out HYPOCRITES for saying there is no such thing as GOD but will take the name of GOD in vain.

Just like those Victorians were flat out HYPOCRITES for saying there is no such thing as JUPITER but stilll took the name of JUPITER in vain.


Edited to add: "Jove" is an alternative name for "Jupiter", just in case you didn't realise ;)

[Barkhorn1x]

Originally posted by billiefan2000

If Atheists don't believe in God, then why use His name in vain?

Simple fundy boy - it has a nice ring to it. And, since I don't believe, then there is nothing "in vain" about it to me.

You're probably the type of guy who whines about the PC crowd and how they are ruining this country - come on you know that you do!

Therefore, it is quite amusing to see you wanting to be protected from so-called "Christian bashing".

Get a clue Jesus Lover - no one's feeding you to the lions anymore.

Barkhorn.

[Akots]

One explentive I use only in the presence of my brother is "Holy crap-on-a-stick, Batman!"

This can be applied regardless of wether or not one is actually talking to Batman.

[Upchurch]

This reminds me of the time that Jedi Knight tried to argue that you worship Jesus by looking at a calendar. (http://www.randi.org/vbulletin/showthread.php?s=&threadid=9209) It was pretty abserd then, too.

Originally posted by Akots
One explentive I use only in the presence of my brother is "Holy crap-on-a-stick, Batman!"

This can be applied regardless of wether or not one is actually talking to Batman. In another thread, I recently made a "Smurf" joke. Does that mean I believe smurfs are real?

[Tricky]

Originally posted by Upchurch
In another thread, I recently made a "Smurf" joke. Does that mean I believe smurfs are real?
Are you dense, Upfunk? Didn't you read what Billiefan said? It merely means you are hypocritical about smurfs.

[Upchurch]

Adapted from a post by billiefan2000


I mean,lets tell it like it is.

This isnt Smurf Bashing,just a excuse to attack Smurfs and if Asmurfists truly dont believe in SMURFS,then why take SMURFS' name in vain?


Or is it maybe there is no such thing as ASMURFISM. Tricky,

I think it's fairly clear that William is saying that if I use a thing's name in vain (here, Smurfs) then clearly I believe believe that Smurfs exist.

Although it does raise a question, if I do sincerely believe in Smurfs, and all that stands for, why would I take Smurfs' name in vain? It seems that only an Asmurfist would even consider taking Smurfs' name in vain, holding no true value in the name of Smurf...

[Dancing David]

I think that it is the dd in g*dd*mnit that gives it its power, Bast's Boobs has a nice ring, or Thor's hairy b*tt hole,
By popular vote most people use F*ck in vain.

F*nk On.

[billiefan2000]

Originally posted by Nyarlathotep


1. The Newdow case is not a fraud since it is his right as a parent to object to anything he doesn't want in her education. If he were objecting to her receiving sex education classes even though she didn't mind I have a very good hunch that you would be taking this same position

2. Because "I swear to Buddha" or "Krishadammit" is not the used and and understood expression. If it were, I would presume that atheists would be saying "krishnadammit" everytime they stubbed their toe. As to why it is only acceptable to attack Christianity the simple answer is no one is attacking Christianity. Every time a non christian (whether atheist or simply a member of another religion) objects to having Christianity forced down their throat Christians react with an accusation of 'look the atheists/pagans/whatever are attacking us' It gets really old. And I don't blame Christians for this for any reason other that they are BY FAR the predominant religion in the US and thus have the most resources and manpowr to push their agenda. I presume that if I lived in India I would be just as fed up with the Hindus.

Simply put, most atheists I know would be perfectly content to leave christains alone if they would extend us the same courtesy


How come the mother didnt object in the case it it was in the daughter's best intrests.

By the way when I hear a Liberal saying they are doing what is best for someone,they are full of bullsh*t.

[Voob]

I swear to God, I've been saying "Oh, my Buddha!" recently.

Hey man, false gods are fair game.

Oh yeah, another one I've been saying ever since high school----"By Odin's beard!"

I'm a good, Thor-fearing man.

[Ossai]

billiefan2000
If you dont believe in GOD,then why take his name or the name of the son of GOD who's name is JESUS CHRIST in vain? Christ is not a name, it's a title meaning messiah.

Or maybe like most Atheists are just flat out HYPOCRITES for saying there is no such thing as GOD but will take the name of GOD in vain. So you are equating GOD with YHWH, Jesus, Allah, Seth, Odin, etc.

This isnt Religious Bashing,just a excuse to attack Christians and if Atheists truly dont believe in GOD, then why take GOD'S name in vain? Again. You are just declaring that the christian deity is GOD, which I admit isn't that uncommon in this country. Yet more reason to remove all reference of GOD from our currency and national mottoes, they apparently don't pass the Lemon Test.

Ossai

[Akots]

I don't have to take this sarcasm... I can tell your all implying that Batman isn't real!

[KelvinG]

Originally posted by billiefan2000



How come the mother didnt object in the case it it was in the daughter's best intrests.

By the way when I hear a Liberal saying they are doing what is best for someone,they are full of bullsh*t.

So, when you hear a conservative saying that they are doing something that is best for someone, do you believe them?
If a parent says it is best for the child to be raised as a Christian, why is that OK?

[slimshady2357]

Originally posted by billiefan2000


If you dont believe in GOD,then why take his name or the name of the son of GOD who's name is JESUS CHRIST in vain?


Or maybe like most Atheists are just flat out HYPOCRITES for saying there is no such thing as GOD but will take the name of GOD in vain.

Hey numbnuts, if I don't believe in god and I say "goddammit!", I'm taking anything in vain, because I don't believe in anything.

You're the one claiming I'm doing so, I claim I'm stringing together some words that have an effect, just like if I was using "c*ck sucking moth*rf*cker". I'm not taking 'moth*rf*ckers' in vain, I assure you ;)

Adam

[TylerD]

Originally posted by billiefan2000
By the way when I hear a Liberal saying they are doing what is best for someone,they are full of ********.

Frankly, this requires little comment. It boggles my mind that people can say such bigoted (and stupid) things with a clear concience.

And don't launch a thunderous assult on me for being a liberal, I'm a hardcore libertarian.

[Nyarlathotep]

Originally posted by billiefan2000



How come the mother didnt object in the case it it was in the daughter's best intrests.

By the way when I hear a Liberal saying they are doing what is best for someone,they are full of bulls**t.

The mother obviously didn't object because she disagreed with him. My wife and I aren't even separated (as, if I remember correctly, the Newdows are) and we don't always agree what is in the best interests of our children

As for what you said about liberals, I have two things to say. One I am, in general, neither particularly liberal nor particularly conservative. Contrary to whatever image you have built up in your mind not all atheists are die-hard liberals. Further "What is best for someone", is almost purely a matter of opinion and last I checked liberals were just as entitled to their opinions as conservatives in this country.

[Barkhorn1x]

Originally posted by billiefan2000


By the way when I hear a Liberal saying they are doing what is best for someone,they are full of bullsh*t.

You have some critical thinking issues, dontcha babe??



:rolleyes: :rolleyes:


Barkhorn.

[Nyarlathotep]

Originally posted by Barkhorn1x


You have some critical thinking issues, dontcha babe??



:rolleyes: :rolleyes:


Barkhorn.

If he didn't I don't think he would be a fundie

[Dancing David]

Originally posted by billiefan2000


By the way when I hear a Liberal saying they are doing what is best for someone,they are full of bullsh*t.

By the way when you here a conservative saying they are doing what is best for the country the are full of horsedung. Wink.

Funk On

[the_ignored]

Originally posted by billiefan2000



How come the mother didnt object in the case it it was in the daughter's best intrests.

By the way when I hear a Liberal saying they are doing what is best for someone,they are full of bullsh*t.
Same thing whenever I hear a fundy xian (see, I didn't take the name of your lord in vain there!) say that their religion is responsible for bringing us out of the dark ages, or "christans are being persecuted in the states" or "xianity is what our system of goverment is based on" or "creationism is true science while evolution is a religion" or "the 'Liberals' are in power and they want to destroy xianity"!

or any other such inange rantings foisted off by you people. I've lurked over at RR and I have to say, they are the most paranoid group of people I've seen in a long time. One guy even got kicked off for saying that Jack Chick's "The Last Generation" (http://www.chick.com/reading/tracts/0094/0094_01.asp) tract wasn't like real life. Another guy (an admin) said it was, then when the first guy asked him for any docuementation, the admin, instead of providing any, like any reasonable person would do, got mad. He said the other guy was accusing him of lying, and banned him.

As far as I could tell, he never did give any evidence, and the thread (in Anything Goes) got moved to Apologetics, which you apparently can't even see anymore unless you're registered! Whereas before, lurkers could see everything, now I can't see the
Apologetics forum anymore! I thought they'd removed it completely until a friend of mine emailed me and said that it got moved to "Members only"!

(I told her she should come over here instead, the people are more resonable)!

Gutless cowards, and lyers too. What kind of an idiot makes all sorts of paraniod statments and then gets mad when asked for any evidence?! :rolleyes:

That, billiefan, is someone who's full of bullsh*t!

[Upchurch]

"oh, My Stars and Garters" --Hank McCoy, a.k.a. The Beast of The X-Men.

[c4ts]

Originally posted by billiefan2000
Does anyone know why atheists use the Lord's name in vain? I were watching a show that had Michael Nedow on it- the "atheist" in CA that got the words "one nation UNDER GOD" removed from the pledge alligence.

I bet he used the Lord's name in vain about 1,000 times.

It just didn't make sense to us Christians.

If Atheists don't believe in God, then why use His name in vain?

Because that is not using His name in vain. To use His name in vain is to call upon God to smite your enemies, or to ask for personal, selfish favors.

[Jesus H Christ]

I don't see the big deal about taking My name in vain. Doesn't bother Me, why should it bother you? What does bother me is stupid fundies trying to set scientific thought back 400 years. I mean, We made evolution pretty damn obvious. What more do you want? Pictures?

[Marvel Frozen]

Originally posted by Jesus H Christ
I don't see the big deal about taking My name in vain. Doesn't bother Me, why should it bother you? What does bother me is stupid fundies trying to set scientific thought back 400 years. I mean, We made evolution pretty damn obvious. What more do you want? Pictures?

Could you make some cartoon strips like the Jack Chick ones.