tdekeyser

Aside from people in public/work places, I'm really getting tired of no one challenging this notion of GOD in everyday stuff including the media.

Whenever someone says 'God bless you' , 'thank God', 'I've been blessed', 'prayers were answered', 'so help you God', and 'God forbid', why doesn't anyone say, "What the heck are you talking about??? WHAT GOD? WHERE IS THIS GOD?"

Everyone talks about GOD like he is real. We have this in our laws, courts, media, government, everywere!

No one ever challenges it. I would! If I am ever on TV, interviewed or in a court room and they ask me something like, "Do you promise to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help you GOD?"

I'm going to say, "What? So help me GOD? What are you talking about? What GOD? What is he going to do to me? "

Or if I were a reporter interviewing someone religious (like the president), I would not ask foriegn policy questions, I would ask:

"Mr. President, do you believe in the God that is descibed in the bible?

"yes I do"

"The god of the bible says that other faiths are going to be punished. How can you protect the right of all others when you believe that they are less 'holy' than you, less 'valuable' than you? How can you pass 'faith-based' policies when we have no proof of GOD? HOW CAN YOU WORSHIP A GOD WHO WILL TORTURE YOUR FELLOW CITIZENS!??!?"


Why doesn't anyone have the GALL to ask these questions? It seems like no one wants to "go there".

andy_d

Well in a court of law you can make an affirmation, rather than an oath. The only difference being the ommission of that god fella.

Biff the unclean

Because it's dangerous.
Xians used to kill us outright. They would even quote the NT where the Prince of Peace orders us to be burned. They will still physically assault you, fire you from your job and do you what ever harm they think that they can get away with.

Barcode

Because I suppose it's easier to maintain the status quo. And do you want to run the risk of sounding like the fundamentalist types?

This is a conundrum I have ... even the more liberal religious people I know don't have big problems with evangelization (unless it gets to Falwell-esque extremes); yet if an atheist attempts to explain their viewpoint -- comments such as " just let people believe what they want " or " show some respect for religion " tend to ensue.

Of course people are free to believe what they wish. I personally, am more concerned about the *actions* that arise as a result of a particular belief.

Over in the U.K, the issue of who believes what rarely comes up. Thinking about it, I'm not even sure what some of my friends believe and vice versa. It's just not considered important enough to get all fired up about -- which is probably a good indicator of what many of us think.

You American's do seem to suffer

abe smith

TDEKEYSER..... but I guess I perceive you as not-too-old, and perhaps kinda new to the fight. Some of us have been waging it perhaps since before you were born. You can be sure, I think, that it's not going to be over yet awhile.

You could wear your message on your back; and keep on airing it, if others will let you. Welcome to the ranks! Keep on trucking.

Hopeful Monsters

tdekeyser - I like the points you make in your OP.

Well - this way of referring to God is woven into the fabric of everyday life and it's institutionalized. It�s fused into language and welded into thinking.

It can be shocking if someone actually stands up in an institutional or media setting and says:

�Wait a minute - WTF are talking about? Will you stop banging on about Gawd and Jebus�.

Maybe, like in a scene from the film Network, people should open their windows and shout aloud out into the streets:

For Big Bang�s sake � put God away and just keep him to yourselves. We�re mad as hell* and we�re not gonna take it anymore

* insert Secular word here

Rational BAC

The examples you give are not worth getting worked up about. "God" in that sense is used generically-------has really no meaning at all, kind of like saying "you know".

Same reason "In God We Trust" is on our money and not really challenged in the courts. Through overuse it has lost all meaning.

Biff the unclean

Since when?
A "generic" God is still a god just as a generic drug is still a drug

Rhaedas

I'll concede that in everyday speech it's a placeholder for the most part, because it's habit. You hear it everywhere, and it's hard to not conform to the status quo of speaking. But when you get into the realm of deus minimus, ceremonial deism, or whatever nice label you want to put on it...it all says the same thing. That's the way it is, that's the way it's always been, live with it. Or less nice, shut up, you unbeliever.

Tell me, if such things as IGWT or prayer in public areas have lost their true meaning, then it wouldn't hurt anything to leave them out, right? And if they suddenly do have a reason for being there, well, they're rather exclusive of many beliefs outside christianity, aren't they? If they have meaning, of course.

As for the OP, I agree it can be tedious at times to "go with the flow" and be a nice, silent atheist. It's interesting though, when you do make a subtle comment, how many closet atheists/agnostics you find around you who are just trying to escape the persecution that christians want to claim for themselves.

Rational BAC

Why would you think "In God We Trust" has anything to do with favoring Christianity?

Now if it was "In Jesus We Trust" -----then you would have a valid point.