My friend is an "athiest" yet he says "God Bless You" When I sneeze.... [rolleyes smiley]
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Ah yes, from antiquated times when they thought illnesses were caused by God's wrath, or demons invading your body when you accidentally sneezed your soul out. (I kid you not)
Big deal. I've known plenty of Christians who say "gesundheit" when someone sneezes, even though they don't have a clue what the word actually means (since they don't speak German). Either way, in that context it's just an idiomatic expression of supportiveness for someone showing a symptom of illness.
In Danish, almost all our profanity is Christianity-related. English has 'fucking', but we don't have anything like that (although 'fucking' is often used by the younger generations). And since everybody swears in Denmark - even the politicians on tv, we have no choice but to use Christian profanity, such as 'for fanden' (for satan) and 'sgu' (so God, or God help me). That, however, doesn't change the fact that Denmark is one of the least religious countries in the world.
Oops, huh?
My friend is a "christian" yet he calls the day after Wednesday "Thursday".... [rolleyes smiley]
My friend is a "christian" yet he calls the fourth planet of our solar system "Mars".... [rolleyes smiley]
Not exactly compelling evidence of anything, except that your friend is polite despite being (gasp!) an atheist.
Me, I use words like "Oh God" and "Jesus Christ" numerous times a day (especially when driving in traffic). Doesn't mean I believe they exist.
It's called a lexicon, the current state of speech of any particular language. If it's understood by most or all, even Atheists will use them. It's a habit from your youth usually. I don't respond at all to someone sneezing myself but if I heard a Christian or Atheist say "bless You" I'd just see no issue.
Are you saying we can't speak english, or react in traditional ways? Fuck you. The last people to police my language will be you lot.
@miceandfigs
"I always just say \"Gesundheit.\" "
I say 'Gesundheit', or I say nothing at all. It's odd to me that we acknowledge sneezing, but not yawning, coughing, hiccupping, etc.
“My friend is an "athiest" yet he says "God Bless You""
My wife is “Christain”, but today she acknowledges Wotan by observing Wotansday, as she does every mid-week.
On one of my boats, someone leaped on an admitted atheist when he said ‘god bless you’ to a lay leader who sneezed.
Confused?
So were we! You can find all of this, and more, on Fundies Say the Darndest Things!
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