-Removed-It depends. Even here on RHP where most people are relatively anonymous, if we mention the death of someone who wasn't a terrorist, then most people feel the need to say something nice.
One can also use other terms to express loss or sorrow with having to invoke religious terminology. Maybe there is something deeper.
Or maybe most people don't think its religious terminology. Do you think the days of the week or months are religious terminology? I recently learned that during the French revolution they changed the calendar in part because they saw the traditional one as connected to the Church.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Republican_Calendar
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-Removed-For those who are not strong atheists, that might well be the case. Many non-religious people nevertheless subscribe to some basic beliefs about life after death. Many just don't really give it much thought or don't have a definite opinion on the matter. Interestingly, a lot of people who label themselves Christian, say that they don't believe in life after death.
http://www.religioustolerance.org/polls-about-life-after-death.htm
-Removed-I do realise that you are having a problem with atheists using the word 'God'. What I don't understand is why you find it interesting.
What I find interesting is that theists use the phrase as it goes directly against the teachings in the Bible. Atheists have no such teachings so they can use the lords name in vain all they like with impunity.
-Removed-Well I cannot prove otherwise. I can only give my own testimony and you can believe it or not. I have no such 'basic belief'. And I would be more than happy to take a lie detector test to prove it, but that obviously isn't feasible here. I also suspect that many professed theists are faking it, and that suspicion is borne out by the surveys I referenced earlier.
I suspect that these social expressions may sometimes be representative of that.
And I think you are reading too much into it. I personally avoid such social expressions but I can be quite pedantic at times whereas most people are not. I feel compelled to point out that many people also use expressions that do not apply to their religion or in fact are directly contrary to their religion.
Also, there are many people who have deliberately modified common expressions that do have religious connotations. Just as the F word is often modified to 'feck' 'fack' and others.
I can see why twhithead would want to argue against that premise.
The fact that you can find a motivation, doesn't make me wrong.
I do not believe in any form of life after death. Many atheists do, and many simply say they do not know. However, I would never express that view in the face of someone who has recently lost someone close to them unless they directly asked, as doing so would be rude.
A few years ago a friend of mine lost his wife and I was frankly annoyed by the fact that the local priest used the occasion as a preaching opportunity. I found that to be rude.
There are certain situations where discussion of religion should be avoided.