Is it acceptable to use words like "heaven" and "god" when the narrator is agnostic?

Yes.

I'm an atheist, and I still say "thank god" and "god damn it" on occasion.

It's your job to make the language feel like an authentic part of that character. As long as you can do that, it's fine.

posted almost 6 years ago

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DoubleD‭

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As Amadeus's one and other answers have pointed, atheists do use religious vocabulary in real life quite often. However, please keep in mind that anything you write can be used to convey some idea to the reader. If being an atheist is an important feature of the narrator, you can underline that feature by making him not to use religious language at all, specially if you want to contrast him with another character who is religious and often uses religious language.

posted almost 6 years ago

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Pere‭

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Religion is a great contributor to popular culture. It is therefore common for people of any religious alignment or lack thereof to reference religious language in common casual and even business and academic speech. Literary works are intended to emulate the culture and community of the characters in it and the contemporaries of the writer who will read it. Why wouldn't you use such language? It will make the story connect better with the reader and make the narrator seem more authentic.

posted almost 6 years ago

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Davidt‭

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Yes, agnostics and atheists can do anything they want with religious language!

I am another atheist, and a practicing scientist at a university. I don't regard any entity in any religion as real or sacred, and have no problem speaking of them. I know many religious people, including half my extended family, so I am conscious of not offending them, but I don't see any problem with using religious concepts in the same way THEY do: I also don't hold my own atheism sacred, I don't think I have any obligation to only use atheistic language in my life. I'll use the concepts of "soul," "God", "Heaven", "Hell," "Angels" and "Demons" whenever they are good shorthand or good description for what I want to say.

Should a person that claims to be a Christian be prohibited from reference to Zeus or Aphrodite or Cupid, Olympus, Valhalla, or the River Styx? Must I believe King Arthur was real to be allowed to refer to Galahad? Must I believe magic exists to say my character was entranced?

Your narrator should feel free to use any language they feel conveys the scene, without apology or explanation of why. It is not a contradiction for an atheist to refer to "heaven" in a figurative manner, no more than if they referred to garden fairies or bridge trolls in a figurative manner.

posted almost 6 years ago

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Amadeus‭

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This depends on the character.

You're quite right to realize that the set of images a character will use, should depend a lot on that character's "inner lexicon"; on the particular imagery that character would plausibly reach for and use. It makes sense that, when feeling unsteady on their feet, a sailor might think "like during a storm," a city-dweller might think "like during an earthquake," and a cowboy might think "like on a horse that's gone berserk." Each character has their own frame of reference.

And you're equally right to wonder whether an atheist might have religious imagery in their frame of reference -- because that's not a trivial thing. On the one hand they don't believe in it; on the other hand they're likely familiar with it. And on the third and most important hand, different characters are going to be different, and each will have their own associations.

An atheist who used to be devout, and gradually lost faith, will think of heaven one way. An atheist who used to be devout, but was eventually hounded out, and left out of spite, will think of it another way. An atheist who approaches all religions as facets of human imagination and beauty will have one view; a stark rationalist will have another.

So the answer is: you'll need to decide this based on what you know of your character -- or, maybe you'll be deciding something new about the character, in order to know how they'll describe these things.

Is your atheist character someone who would talk fancifully about "voices of kindly gods"? What kind of person would he need to be to use that phrasing? What might he mean by it? It's your choice -- and making interesting choices can be absolutely fascinating.

posted almost 6 years ago

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Standback‭

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There are two ways religious concepts appear in speech.

First, there are common expressions: "Oh my god", "go to hell", etc. Those are a natural part of our speech, we hear them all the times and do not give them much consideration. An agnostic or an atheist is likely to use them the same way, without giving them a second thought. You can use those freely. A person could make a conscious effort not to use such expressions, but that would be an exception rather than the rule. (For example, as a Jew, I make a conscious effort not to use "Jeez" in everyday speech. I recognise that it is more natural to use the word, and that my choice is an active one.)

Second there are free associations. Those are not common expressions, but images born of one's mind. "Like the stilts of heaven" and "like the voice of a kindly god" come under this category, I believe. The problem here isn't the mention of religious elements. But searching for an association, a descriptive image, I do not think an agnostic or an atheist would use those particular images; they'd use other images instead. Consider: I live in Israel, I have only ever seen snow a couple of times in my life, while visiting Europe. I can theoretically describe someone's eyes being "blue like an iceberg" - there's no reason for me not to mention icebergs, but it's more likely that my first thought would rather be of the sea on a summer day. The iceberg is not a part of my day-to-day, thus it is not a part of my internal imagery. Similarly, religious concepts (god, heaven) would not be part of the atheist's internal imagery. (Note that I do not disagree here with @Amadeus: a person can use whatever imagery they find convenient. I question the likelihood of a character choosing this language over alternatives.)

On a personal note, "the stilts of heaven" and "the voice of a kindly god" evoke nothing in me: I have no image of a heaven that has stilts in it, nor any idea what a god, kindly or otherwise, would sound like. This could serve as an indicator for you that someone who is not Christian might not use those particular associations.

posted almost 6 years ago

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Galastel‭

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