NonHomogenized

My brother and I, at least with friends and such, say "curses!" whenever someone sneezes.

Defiant Heretic

That's what I say, too. I also agree that that situation would have been a great way of debunking that "no atheists in foxholes" garbage.

daria

Why atheists here are so sensitive to even such greetings like that?

Perhaps they were still having presumptions that your place is still a Christian country.

Perhaps that's it... and I think that's kind of rude. To me, it's along the same lines as people asking when I'm going to have children as opposed to whether or not I want them. They assume that because I'm a female, I want a baby or because I'm an American, I must be a christian of some sort. Well, until people call them on it (and not necessarily in mean ways), they'll keep living in their own little box of a world thinking that everything fits in it just they way they want.

Upon reflection, I think that is the first time someone has actually used that form of "god bless you" at me since I became an atheist. It actually caught me off guard. This is why I'm glad I have II--next time, I'll be prepared with an appropriate way to *hopefully* make someone think. Thanks all!

Has anyone had any bad experiences with any of these replies?

Tom Sawyer

I always just say thank you.

"God Bless You" is just an expression used to convey a nice feeling. It really doesn't mean anything more than that. Sort of like when people say, "How are you doing?" - it means hello, not that they actually want you to tell them how you're doing.

As another example, I just called my brother a few hours ago to tell him that my dog had died. I was very sad during the whole conversation and at the end of it he said "Have a nice day.". I wasn't going to have a nice day; he knew I wasn't going to have a nice day. That doesn't matter - it's just an expression, another way of saying goodbye.

The fact is that this IS a mainly Christian culture and as a result, Christian phrases are part of the general vernacular, regardless of how silly the phrase is. I don't think the lady actually thought that her God was going to shower you with gold or anything, it's just a regular way of saying thanks. It's the same as when Randy from American Idol said to people, "You're good, Dog". He didn't mean that they were being good dogs and peeing in the litter box, he was just using a slang phrase. That's all that "God Bless You" is, a slang phrase. It really doesn't mean anything on it's own and getting aggravated about it just because a nice lady wanted to say thanks to you is, no offense, a bit petty.

Granted, being bombarded with xianity everywhere we turn is a bit annoying, but getting annoyed over meaningless phrases doens't help us out at all. I hope I don't come across as sounding demeaning or harsh or anything here, but I think getting pissed off about this is taking things too far.

PS - daria, when are you going to have children, already?

athee

I used to work with a fun bunch of people with an odd sense of humor. They would always mix up the responses to events like knocks, sneezes, phones ringing etc.

When someone sneezed, you could get, "Come in" or "Who is it?"

A knock or a phone ring may get a "Hello?" Without anyone actually answering the phone or the door (at first).

It was never what you expected.

For the sneeze, if I get a bless you, I respond "no thanks" or I say "gee thanks, my spirit was about to blow away for good"

AspenMama

That's a very kind and diplomatic response. Nice work!

AspenMama

I thought the myth was that evil spirits were prevented from flying down your throat by a bless you.

daria

No offense taken, and you don't sound harsh. I wasn't pissed off about it. It didn't ruin my day or anything. I didn't give it a second thought until I posted it here, at which point I was just wondering what others might have said. Yeah, I could easily go on a rant about the assumption and all that, but I could easily do that about many things without necessarily being pissed off.
I understand everything you were getting at, but I would still rather say something in response--though not necessarily confrontational. I don't care if this is a predominantly christian nation... it's not ALL christian. If I take the time to think about my audience before I say certain things, even slang, I don't see the harm in gently reminding other people to do the same. Thinking is a good thing; I like to do what I can to encourage it.

PS - Never! mwaaaahahahahahaha

The Other Michael

The way I heard it was that your soul came out your mouth when you sneezed, so the "bless you" was to scare away the demons before they could grab it prior to it being drawn back into the body.

I suppose another way to approach it is from an anthropological stance - ask the people "why are you blessing me? What is that supposed to accomplish? Do you really think a sneeze endangers people?" Ask that with an earnest expression on your face and you should avoid insulting someone, but will no doubt leave them flummoxed and at a loss for an answer.

cheers,
Michael

AspenMama

Michael-- I've gotten in trouble for taking that one at work before! Thanks for the clarification.