Do not believe in a god but say "bless you" when people sneeze?

Do you have to be religious to say God damnit?

@Intro said:

@CrazyBagMan said:

I do believe in God but don't say "bless you" because it comes from a stupid superstition.

That makes no sense to me.

I think he's referring to the fact that some believe the origin of "bless you" comes from a superstition regarding losing your soul when you sneeze. So, he believes in God but doesn't believe the superstition. Unfortunately, this seems like a pretty common misconception, as bless you and well-wishes of its kind have almost always had nothing to do with someone losing their soul. It has to do with hoping someone is blessed with good health.

I usually just stand an inch or two away from their face and scream "SHUT UP"

@joachimo said:

@PolygonSlayer said:

I say "prosit" because I'm Norwegian :)

Not having English as my primary language this is just a natural response for me :) Not fully sure of the meaning, but I think it comes from German and has something to do with 'good health'. Which makes more sense to me than trying to "drive out" demons or something lol

The German word "prosit" means toast.

Yes, I think I remember that. What I should have said is that our version (prosit) as far as I know is a shortened version of (excuse spelling, don't know any German really) 'prosontait' or something like that :)

@WilliamHenry said:

I don't think saying "bless you" after someone sneezes really has anything to do with religion at this point. Its more just common courtesy these days.

Exactly how I look at it, so yes, although I am not religious I usually say 'bless you' when someone sneezes.

Depends on the person and if I know them but I would never say bless you.

I've heard that the god bless you is rooted in medieval times when there was the plague and various other diseases. If someone was sick, they were more than likely going to die so might as well be prepared or maybe its just a way of saying "hope you get better."

I know in spanish they say "salud" which means health.

I think basically it is just a quick way of saying hope you feel better. There doesn't need to necessarily need to be a religious context to the word. Think about words like damn, hell, graces, divine, faith, and angelic. You don't need to be religious to describe your children as little angels, to say you have faith in something, or to be in someones good graces. Think about all the times you say "God damn it!" It's no different. You should probably be courteous and hope that people are blessed with good health.

I don't believe in god but I still say oh my god. I even tell god to go f**k himself sideways if I'm feeling feisty.

I always thought there was a difference between "bless you" and "god bless you".  
Bless you sounds more like someone saying "may whatever you decided to believe in bless you" 

It's just a cultural thing, I don't believe in God but say "Oh my God" and "Jesus Christ!" often.

@joachimo: Ha, that's brilliant. I think I might have to say 'Toast' from now on.

@Rappelsiini said:

@forkboy The tone I got from the post was "I'm better than religious people". Maybe I'm reading too much into it and the question is valid as any other but this all seems a bit stupid to me.

Yyyyyyyeah, sort of. His post was a bit long-winded for what he was trying to ask, & I get the feeling his line about "beating it out of her" line was meant to be something to chuckle at but I kinda find domestic violence repulsive so there is that. But I just focused on the question itself rather than any possible subtext. Guess it depends how you choose to read it.

I say "pardon me" when I sneeze. Not because I've sinned somehow, but because we've become thoughtless morons without a sense of common courtesy. I say "bless you" when others sneeze, for the same reason.

But it's really, and I mean REALLY obvious that this thread has little to do with sneezing and a great deal to do with animosity toward religion.

@Rappelsiini said:

@forkboy The tone I got from the post was "I'm better than religious people". Maybe I'm reading too much into it and the question is valid as any other but this all seems a bit stupid to me.

That's definitely not what I was saying.

I could use the Constanza route, and say, "I have lots of religious friends!", which, I have several, and I think at least half of them are from an educational and/or moral standpoint "better" than I am.

I was just curious if people say it, and I could have said that in a single sentence, but mods tend to frown on posts that are 1-liners, so I rambled on. Nothing personal towards anyone.

I should add that before I started working at my current job, I totally said, "bless you" all the time, but after 8 years of being cooped up with people that don't, I've stopped.

Also, I was baptized as a Mormon, like Mitt Romney. True story. I was 13 at the time tho.

I'm Atheist and say "bless you" all the time.

@buzz_killington said:

I usually say "I bless you."

So, you're a satanist then?

I do not say 'bless you', but man I do love a good sneeze! Wish I could sneeze on cue, man that would be sweet...

@Video_Game_King said:

I've never understood that concept (this includes saying that German word). What's the point? "Yes, I am aware that you sneezed and am acknowledging this awareness." Is it, like, a warning to others in the vicinity?

Well, general politeness. I only ever say something to strangers if it's a cute girl. Sometimes, I'll be studying in the library, at the same table as a cute girl. She sneezes, I say "gesundheit," she says thank you, and I've earned one month's worth of high self-esteem.

When I was a kid I always thought it was "Blesh you"...so when I do say it I say it in a way that sounds like bless and blesh...lol

@deadmanforking: My wife constantly complains about how loud I sneeze. It shuts up entire rooms of people, and they always come in threes or fours.

Year ago, when I was in Boy Scouts, we went to this nursing home on a field trip deal, and there was a older lady (90s if I had to guess) there who had at some point sneezed hard enough that her nose wasn't able to contain the blast or something to that effect and she had ended up with a good sized gaping chasm down the center of her face between her eyes and mouth. It was insane, and scares the hell out of me for when I get older and have to sneeze.

@BoG:

If I were in that situation, I'd just continue studying, since my only other option would be yelling, "YOU HAVE SNEEZED. THIS HAS REMINDED ME THAT YOUR CONTINUED HEALTH WOULD BE MOST PLEASING TO ME. CARRY THIS KNOWLEDGE WITH YOU THROUGHOUT YOUR DAY." (Or something to that effect.)

I say "bleshoo"

@mlarrabee said:

I say "pardon me" when I sneeze. Not because I've sinned somehow, but because we've become thoughtless morons without a sense of common courtesy. I say "bless you" when others sneeze, for the same reason.

But it's really, and I mean REALLY obvious that this thread has little to do with sneezing and a great deal to do with animosity toward religion.

I say "pardon me" too, and my apologies if you read it that way, totally not the way I intended it to come across.

I also say "yes ma'm" and "yes sir" all the time, which takes people back quite a bit, just things that have stuck with me since I was a kid growing up in Georgia.

@Canteu said:

I don't say shit when someone sneezes. Motherfucker is just sneezing, it's a natural bodily reaction.

You don't say anything when someone farts, or coughs or blinks.

You're supposed to say excuse you or wait for them to excuse themselves. It's more of a polite thing to do.

@Krakn3Dfx:Hmmmm...OK thats pretty scary but, until my face explodes, sneezing is still pretty awesome.

I say "Bless you" without thinking about it. Not religious, just polite.

Didn't the phrase have something to do with the Bubonic Plague way back in the day or something? Like sneezing was a symptom and the plague was the death sentence so it was actually a really morbid tradition. I could have totally made that up, but at least it sounds good.

I don't say anything when people sneeze.

@Krakn3Dfx said:

@mlarrabee said:

I say "pardon me" when I sneeze. Not because I've sinned somehow, but because we've become thoughtless morons without a sense of common courtesy. I say "bless you" when others sneeze, for the same reason.

But it's really, and I mean REALLY obvious that this thread has little to do with sneezing and a great deal to do with animosity toward religion.

I say "pardon me" too, and my apologies if you read it that way, totally not the way I intended it to come across.

I also say "yes ma'm" and "yes sir" all the time, which takes people back quite a bit, just things that have stuck with me since I was a kid growing up in Georgia.

I started doing that recently and people fucking love it.

@Video_Game_King said:

@BoG:

If I were in that situation, I'd just continue studying, since my only other option would be yelling, "YOU HAVE SNEEZED. THIS HAS REMINDED ME THAT YOUR CONTINUED HEALTH WOULD BE MOST PLEASING TO ME. CARRY THIS KNOWLEDGE WITH YOU THROUGHOUT YOUR DAY." (Or something to that effect.)

Lunarian customs are strange.

@WilliamHenry said:

I don't think saying "bless you" after someone sneezes really has anything to do with religion at this point. Its more just common courtesy these days.

I say nothing when someone sneezes because I see no point as long as they don't sneeze on me (if anything I'd rather thank them for not sneezing on me), and my only reaction to sneezing myself is usually to say something like "fuck" or "motherfucker" because I'm a rough sneezer. I don't do no little "achew"'s I'm a "AAAAAAAAAHHH, AAAAAAAAAAHHH, AAAAAAAAAAAAHCHOOOOOOOOOOO" type of guy. Not religious, and not much of a fan of pointless courtesy.

@BoG:

Not really; it's more that I'm socially inept. If I had more social skill, I'd probably request that we date or something. (Hey, romantic relationships are still largely treated like business deals where you have a chance of fucking your client.)

I say gesundheit. Of course, I also go "VAST'DIS DAS!?!?" when I get flustered.

No I do not say it.

@TheKramer89: Nice reference.

Very interesting question. There are a hundred different cultural day-to-day expressions that have 'god' in them, I wonder how English-speaking atheists deal with that. 
 
@mnzy said:

The couple of times I've heard English speaking people say "Gesundheit", the pronounciation was actually pretty good. (I'm German)

I say gesundheit. Of course, I also go "VAST'DIS DAS!?!?" when I get flustered.

@AhmadMetallic said:

@mnzy said:

The couple of times I've heard English speaking people say "Gesundheit", the pronounciation was actually pretty good. (I'm German)

How do you pronounce that?

I wanna guess before he answers!

I've always heard it pronounced Guz as in guzzle, zune but with a d at the end so zuned, and finally height.

Ive had some dude snap at me for saying bless you to him after he sneezed.

His was all "ACHOOO!" And I was all "Bless you good sir" and he was all "DON'T SHOVE YOUR BELIEFS DOWN MY THROAT!" And I was all "What the shit?!"

@BoG said:

I'm pretty certain that the phrase has completely lost its religious meaning.

This^, and I kind of think that @Krakn3Dfx is a troll.

I say gesundheit, not really sure how I got into the habit but whatever. I am pretty German though so I guess it works out.

It isn't about religion...

In ye olde times when doctors used to dress like this

they believed evil spirits were trying to invade your soul when you sneezed, so saying bless you would theoretically ward off anything bad.

@AhmadMetallic said:

Very interesting question. There are a hundred different cultural day-to-day expressions that have 'god' in them, I wonder how English-speaking atheists deal with that.

As an officially appointed leader of the English-Speaking Atheist Movement (ESAM for short), I can confirm that not even a modicum of shit is given.

@Animasta said:

I say bless you because I am not an obnoxious militant atheist scumbag

I say bless you because I am not an obnoxious militant atheist scumbag

I say bless you to be polite, it's pretty funny how weird and anal the militant morons get about this shit

btw I am an Atheist

Only when I'm trying to make a good impression

@Animasta said:

I say bless you because I am not an obnoxious militant atheist scumbag

Perfectly worded.