The Atheist Book Club discussion

"OH MY GOD!" I can't help it. It slips out at least five times a day. Isn't there something better an Athiest can say when surprised or startled? I've tried "Oh my Darwin," but it sounds too much like "Darling" and I get "Clementine" stuck in my head. And "Oh my Invisible Being in Whom I Do Not Believe" is just too wordy! Can't we, as a group, come up with something better to gasp? I'm open for suggestions.

oh my dog?

Melki wrote: ""OH MY GOD!" I can't help it. It slips out at least five times a day. Isn't there something better an Athiest can say when surprised or startled? I've tried "Oh my Darwin," but it sounds too m..."

i would not bother with it really unless if it is annoying you. you can only say oh my! otherwise keep saying it as a form of expression. Atheism is not a religion and no one will excommunicate you if you use expressions like holy mother of god or jesus efing christ.

I have copied a friend of mine who types OMC - Oh Mighty Cthulhu!

i do quite like to blaspheme if it annoys people; on another book site there was a lass who complained about people even using words like 'holy' as that was blasphemy, so of course several of us went out of the way to do it as much as possible whilst remaining in the site guidelines (no "holy f*****g christ", for example). i was hoping she would pull us up on it so i could explain that her demand to control our language was was offensive.

Paul 'Pezter' wrote: "I have copied a friend of mine who types OMC - Oh Mighty Cthulhu!

i do quite like to blaspheme if it annoys people; on another book site there was a lass who complained about people even using wor..."

true the sign of a religious person saying oh my gosh, because oh my god is also blasphemy.

You could try JHC.

I typically say "Oh my fuck," but it doesn't make the religious any happier with me.

OMG is a phrase everybody understands. Refusing to use it for what appears to be religious reasons would seem contrary to proper atheism.

I have always liked Jesus Crap!

I have been thinking about this question for a while now. I take back what I said above. I believe the best solution is to do what I do: Don't use any letters or words like that. Try to be accurate in what you are saying. Being more in the moment will help you to express yourself in a way that is far more logical.

I tend to say "Dog in Heaven" a lot. At first I thought it might be cheesy but I like it and the people around me like it. However, I'm still working on OMG for when I'm caught off guard. =)

I like what atheists say in South Park.
Oh My Science!
Thank Science!
Science Damn You!

my fourth grade teacher, before kicking me out into the hallway (for being an atheist) in order to deliver one of her extensive bible lectures (this was a public school, 1965, she was old and quite insane), used to tell us that any kind of utterance was a blasphemy, whether it was 'gosh' or 'golly' or 'gee whiz' or 'jiminy crickets' or 'yikes' or really anything at all ... you really were not allowed to react without offending the Lord in one way or another. He's a pretty touchy dude. So I always just go ahead and saw whatever ... don't really care if the imaginary bastard wouldn't like it :}

I don't care if jesus/god doesn't like it. I don't like it. I don't like the residue of religious influence it represents. Things like "Bless You" for a sneeze, and "OMG" for astonishment, and "Thank God" for relief. Blasphemy doesn't bother me. What bothers me is the feeling that religion still controls me in small ways.

Tom wrote: "my fourth grade teacher, before kicking me out into the hallway (for being an atheist) in order to deliver one of her extensive bible lectures (this was a public school, 1965, she was old and quite..."

That was a tough schoolteacher. Funny how all kinds of sociopaths are excused under the pretense of religion. It reminds me of Nazi Germany in a way, reprimanted for insulting the Reich.

What I usualy get from religious persons when it pops out in the discussion that I do not believe in the existense of god is the question "If you don't believe in god what prevents you from harming others?" To that I usually reply "You must be a horrible person to need the monstrous power of a deity to restrain your violent inclinations."

It is true fanatics are horrible people, religious fanatics are unbearable.

Saying this, for clear socio-anthropologic interest I have no problem whatsoever attending religious festivals, church ceremonies, visiting and staying over night in guest houses at monasteries and covents. I specifically enjoy to discover that ceremonies are mixed with pre-christian paganism, ancient rituals. Find secrets amongst the clergy and differences from one nation to another although they fall under the same dogma. It is the same superstition with different flavour every other country and century or so.

I do not think you should consciously remove everyday expressions because of their religious context. There are a number of them we might use witout knowing they have their roots in some kind of religious or old and forgoten pagan superstition. If you do feel strongly about it, gradually it will dissapear from your vocabulary.

Douglas Adams fan? Oh, Belgium!

Subgenious? Oh, dear Bob!

Spider man fan? Great Caesar's Ghost!

Invocation of pagan gods is often fun, and i personally am fond of "Sweet bleedin' Jesus!" But that's just me.

i recently read Stephen Fry's The Fry Chronicles and he used this expression: "oh, my holy trousers." i think that's pretty funny and i plan to use it when appropriate.

Just wanted to take a moment to thank you all for your sincere and mostly hilarious responses.
Dog bless you, everyone!

Alan wrote: "Douglas Adams fan? Oh, Belgium!
."

One of my favourites. Pity I only think of it when I've said something much worse ;-)

oh my google?

I have to agree with XoX on this one... Merlin's beard! hahah

I like "Well, fuck the skull of Jesus!" Yeah, even though it has Jesus in it. You can even make a shirt like I did with some transfer paper: http://farm1.static.flickr.com/161/36...

Aw, man...I thought it was going to be a picture of you modeling your shirt...

Melki wrote: "Aw, man...I thought it was going to be a picture of you modeling your shirt..."

I don't model with my clothes ON silly!

A book is a blasphemy, swearing is of no importance.

I say "Oh my NSA" because it's always seeing you, hearing you and has more chance to awnser

Oh Your God works well for me.

My favorite comment to someone who says "Jesus Christ!" is that they are using the name in vain--constantly calling on him without any sign of help. This plays nicely into the commandment not to use God's name in vain.

Holy Cow!

I'm trying to train myself to say "may science and medicine prevail"

...instead of "bless you" for a sneeze.

(Premature posting)

OYG!

I say "Oh My God", "Jesus fuck!", "fuck sakes", "Great Googily Moogily!", or "Oh My Mother Fucking God!" when I find something unbelievable. You might try "Fuck me to tears on a Sunday morning with a rusty chainsaw." People will leave you alone.

Just accept it as a cultural idiom? Personally, I like the imagery of Judeochristian angels and love the stories of the Celtic gods. Doesn't mean I believe in them any more than I believe in Sauron, "the Lord of the Rings".

If it makes you feel any better, each time you use "oh my god" out of context you are being irreverent to it. This is why fundamentalists say "do not take the Lord's name in vain", it is the same reason why idolatry is forbidden in many religions and why the word "God", "Allah", "the Lord", "the Almighty" was used instead of Iehovah or Yahweh.

Familiarity breeds contempt.

My husband and I refer to the "Great Unicorn."

I tend to say 'Oh Great Mythical Being!' a lot lately, although I also say 'Sweet Baby Jesus and the Orphans!' which I picked up from Peter Kay's 'Phoenix Nights' on BBC.
I do object to people saying 'Bless You' when I sneeze, and took one religious lady at work to task on it, explaining that its origins were the times of Bubonic Plague and that it basically means 'Hope you don't die.' Subsequently, whenever she sneezed, I said 'Hope you don't die', following which the Bless You's petered out. I also say 'Gdansk' when people sneeze, which confuses everyone.

Incredible how the "bless you" thing is so English (whether British or American).
In all the other languages I know of, it is "health" or "make a wish".

Rock wrote: "I say "Oh My God", "Jesus fuck!", "fuck sakes", "Great Googily Moogily!", or "Oh My Mother Fucking God!" when I find something unbelievable. You might try "Fuck me to tears on a Sunday morning with..."

Yeah, for fuck's sake, it sounds so Irish, I love it.

In French, we can say "Nom de dieu" which is supposedly an insult to god so I like to say it :-D Christians really hate that.
The Brusselers (people from Brussels) have "translated" the Nom de dieu into Non didju which gives even more flavour to the insult. :-D

"Jumpin' jesus on a goddamn crutch."

Or, "Jesus christ on a goddamn bicycle".

I just say, "oh my fake baby jesus".

We can say OMG because we don't have any rules saying we can't. :)

I know what you mean Melki. It's an expression I've heard many times that it's became common.

Try weaning yourself off first before finding something to your liking.
It sounds cheesy but I use "oh my goodness".

I always say "Oh My Godzilla". It works for me; I can't help saying "oh my god", so I tack on the "zilla."

I do not think I say "OMG" very often. The closest thing I say is "oh my goodness" like Lucie.

Well, do as I did during labor and scream, "Jesus F'ing Christ" even though this phrase is not, and really never has been, in my regular vocabulary. Labor just does that sometimes.

Overall I'm with Rhiannon above. "Oh my goodness" is just fine.

oh my goodness

Tabatha wrote: "We can say OMG because we don't have any rules saying we can't. :)"

Good one.

Oh my goodness if I give it some thought, otherwise it is just what ever comes out, although I don't think I say oh my god very often - out of practice I guess.

oh mother gaia

Oh my Fuck!