A lot of Jews swear saying "Jesus Christ." I've heard this used by even mildly religious Jews. It isn't that they see him as a deity at all. It is just a cultural habit picked up. Atheists are presumably ok in the same regard for saying "goddamnit" or some variant thereof. Indeed it makes more sense because in the Jews case it actually raises halachic problems to swear by the name of a deity other than G-d (the prohibition is much stricter. Angie can probably explain this in more detail). The atheist in contrast is just using it as a convenient exclamation. It has as much meaning to the atheist as screaming "Maggot infested leprechauns!" or "By the Hooves of the Invisible Pink Unicorn!" I'd be inclined to argue that "goddammit" is more of a problem for a religious individual who doesn't believe in a G-d that is willing to send people to eternal hell. In most forms of Judaism for example, no one ever gets eternal punishment (and there's actually a claim by one part of the Talmud that punishment in the afterlife never lasts more than a year). So in that context a religious Jew should be more uncomfortable saying that sort of thing than an atheist.


(Also note that Josh Zed finally has an livejournal account. But right now I'm just intending to use it to make commenting on livejournals easier. So it will keep all of the standard awkwardness of not having an account. Yay!)