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Comparing the cheerfully uttered statement, "Nobody's normal" to the cheerfully uttered statement, "I believe in god."
In some contexts, it could be said to be true that no one is normal, however there are certainly common patterns in behavior and appearance, even if many meanings of normal are isolated to specific time periods and areas.
"Nobody's normal" tends to be viewed as an uplifting statement, often synonymous with "Everyone's special."
Perhaps this is because we are a society which often views underdog stories as romantic. If someone is different, and therefore wrong, that doesn't sound very romantic. We don't want Einstein, a hero to many, or the Olympian athlete who ran with no legs recently, placed into the same category as Miami's face eating cannibal, despite all three of them not being normal.
However, if we ponder much about how inspiring Einstein and our Olympian athlete are, we may think: Hmmm...it is not only their being exceptional, but their being unusual which grants them notoriety. Dang nabbit! I want to be special too!
So the person begins viewing his or herself as different and special, but realizes that everybody might feel equally jealous, so everybody becomes special, and nobody remains normal.
Though some people feel that a belief in a god can assist in this life and the next, perhaps some people feel that a belief in god is a good thing, because it is typically stated to be a good thing, and such persons emphasize an importance of a belief in god merely because a belief in god is defined as something good, though quite often it is described as little more than something good.
Someone once described god as love and stated that if people believe in love, they believe in god. Why would the word god be placed into this equation at all?
When someone expresses shock when someone says "I do not believe in a god," are they at times thinking, "I do not fully understand what god is, but I know it to be something good, and therefore all who do not believe in it are doing something bad."
Sometimes someone will say, "God is everything."
Unless this statement becomes more specific, it sounds like atheism.
If the word "god," which is viewed primarily positively, were replaced with a more negative phrase, or neutral phrase, would there be less people who commonly state a belief in it? Still, presumably no changes in religious practices and beliefs, just fewer people exclaiming with pride that they believe in a word which would be synonymous with the word god.
What if the word "god" were replaced with the word "Pooperscootle," or to make sure we have a monosyllabic option too, "Ploop."
No more saying anyone believes in god. From now on, the only options are, "I believe in Pooperscootle," or "I believe in Ploop."
Most people know what god means. In the beginning, most people would not know what Ploop means. Would there be less spreading the word about a belief in Ploop though, or more?
Is god a watcher to most people, or something with intelligence, or just a word? Fate could exist in a godless universe, just not the type of fate humans would find necessarily favorable.
Come to think of it, this should have probably gone in the religion and spirituality forum rather than the atheism and agnosticism forum.
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