Using the word God is a question about retaining the right to use words metaphorically. Also, I see God as a character, as in Hamlet or Lear.

The word 'goodness' does not come as naturally to me in the context. I don't think people have much to thank 'goodness' for. The phrase, 'Thank God' meant 'perish the thought of (Spielberg) not having done this' and doesn't imply belief or disbelief in 'God'. It is merely an emphatic form of 'It's a good job' or a polite form of 'Thank fuck'.

I'm willing to be persuaded on this, as always, but I don't see a problem. I could have said, 'It was just as well that', or 'fortunate that' but passive phrases understate the point. I suppose I could have said something such as 'providence' but the two one-syllable words seem to carry more colloquial weight.