For Atheists: Do you get annoyed when people say god bless you when you sneeze?
When I sneeze I say 'excuse me' just like when I burp. This is because I am exhaling noxious vapors from my lungs and nose that can possibly contain germs and/or bacteria. I feel the least I can do is say 'excuse me' when I spread around my bodily fluids like this.
But when I sneeze at work I get really annoyed because I have these three religious people sitting around me and it appears they are in competition to be the first to say "god bless you". They have been getting louder since I told one of them I do not believe in god. So today when they all said god bless you after I sneezed, I emphatically said "NO THANK YOU!". The guy I can see from my desk was visibly shaken by this and the other two would not look at me when I saw them in the hallway.
What are your feelings on sneezing and proselytizing?
Anonymous2006-09-01T11:51:02Z
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You rule.
I'm not offended when they say it as a subconscious response, but when they try to rub it in your face specifically because you don't believe in the Master, then it's very annoying.
out or curiousity - do you pay cash for items? How do you get around the "in god we trust" on the currency? I'm not being a wise-A - just an honest question.
I'm all for everyone having their rights to have their own faith, but i think your co-workers started saying it out niceness and then maybe decided to try to bring you to their religion once they found out you were atheist. I know a lot of Christians like that - they're like Jev. Witnesses almost sometimes. Just say thank you and move on or smile and nod or don't acknowedge them, but don't be rude or obnoxious about it b/c it's a) not nice and b) will make them want to convert you more.
I know i say bless you out of habit - since i am no longer catholic, i have dropped the god from it, but i still say thank you when people say it. Just a force of habit - like when somebody you know has a death in the family and you say "oh, i'm so sorry" You didn't kill the person - why are you sorry? Just one of those things.
This is your WORK site, dude. Standard business protocol abides by standard social practices, which include common greetings and responses to typical events. Your exclusion of THEIR beliefs with LOUD rejections against "standard societal practices" is both politicial AND antisocial.
Save it for elsewhere, or suffer the aleination of others at your job. A quiet faith in your own system of beliefs does NOT mean you have to launch them on others -- I only WISH more "christians" would actually TRULY "GET" this concept.
Simplified: I am NOT going to listen to some Jesus freek babble on about the Bible at work. But, "God bless you" is almost as common as "How are you?".
For ordinary people, it's just a force of habit to say that. But it sounds like your fellow employees are doing it intentionally to annoy you, so your response was appropriate. Or you might explain to them how the tradition arose in the first place (people used to think that when you sneezed, your sould momentarily left your body thus making it vulnerable to demon posession, so they would say god bless you to scare the demons away), and then just laugh and remind them you're in no danger of demon posession if they keep doing it in the future.