I'm not going to make a nice little speech, I just have a question...

Does it count if an Atheist says "God bless [you]"? Or something along the lines that include God/Religion?

Lol. I never thought about that. If they say that I would have to say they either didn't notice what they were saying, or they might believe in God or someother god and want them to bless you. So they're not completely athiest. I don't know. I don't think I've ever heard an athiest say "God bless you."

An aethist wouldn't say that.

Alright guys, but...

I'm Atheist and I say "God bless you"... Like after someone sneezes, and I take heed to those religious e-mails that friends send me.

Maybe respecting someone else's religion?

Or, its out of force of habit. I (used to, because people said it made me non-athiest xD) look up whenever I got annoyed at someone..also, I used to 'use his name in vain'. However, I no longer do.(use 'his' name at all, that is)

If you're aethist, how come you said the word "God"? Aethists do not use God's name at all.

Good points guys.

Guess it doesn't count. :blink:

I believe an Atheist would say "God" out of habit, not out of... uh... Respect.

Yes we do. Shut up.


It's force of habit, like when I say ' for fucking Jesus' sake'

The way I see it, it isn't that atheists don't use God's name at all. Just because you don't believe in God means you can't say "God" at all?
But if an atheist were to say "God bless you" I would think it very strange and unatheist of them, and I wouldn't think an atheist ever would, except out of habit.

unatheistic...nice.

well, psychologically speaking, it might indicate a supressed or subconscious belief in God. more likely though, you would just say it out of habit, from hearing other people say it.

Well, it wouldn't really be sacriligious for that person for I guess he doesn't have one. Or am I wrong... any ways from what I've heard and leanred saying God Bless You would be as a polite act. So there isn't any offence. AND this is not really worth to be a topic actually.

Words are words. If an atheist says "I believe in God and in His son Jesus Christ," but he's totally lying, then does that make him a Christian? Of course not. If an atheist says "God bless you," it doesn't really mean he or she's actually hoping the Almighty will send down his blessings upon you, it just means that he or she's making some general expression of goodwill towards you that in this culture has just happened to take the form of that particular expression.

Amen that Grondy (which is kinda ironic to say, thinking of the topic).

Swedishly speaking, whenever someone sneezes, you say "Prosit" which really doesn't mean anything, just something you say when someone sneezes. The phrase, both the english one and the swedish one, is something you say as if to just be nice to the guy sneezing. If you're an atheist, does that mean that you have to be more impolite? Not really.

However, the phrase "God Bless You" comes from a belief that states way back that when you sneeze, your soul hopped out of the body or something like that. For it to hop in again, you said "God Bless You" so that the devil couldn't catch your soul while it was outside your body. So it is something you say for your beliefs if you ask me.

So to make stuff simple, instead of saying "God Bless You", say "Prosit" instead ^_^

I learned in English class this past school year that the phrase "God Bless You" could have also derived from Puritan times. One example I remember really well is Puritan Church. The Puritans had to be good and perfect; no talking, no giggling, no moving. There were--I forget what they were called, let's call them mods... There were mods that walked up and down the church isle to make sure everyone was at their best. Said mod(s) carried a stick; "bull whip"-ish on one end, and feathers on the other. The "whip" the used if someone was slouching, or moving. The feathers they used to tickle the nose of people that were talking/giggling/whatever. See the puritans thought that if you misbehaved then there were little demons trying to take over you, in which case a sneeze would release those demons (like an exocism) and thus deriving the term "God Bless You."

By the way, how do you pronounce "Prosit"?

My French teacher (who is somewhat prone to fits of hysteria and conspiracy theories, and is probably not the best source) told us that it came from the time of the Black Plague. Basically, the first symptom of the plague was sneezing, so in order to prevent the spread of the plague whoever was sneezing would be kicked out from the village. First, though, they would be blessed by the local priest, so the phrase "God bless you" came into vogue since you would be, quite literally, blessed... and then booted out to die on your own. Dreadfully cheery chaps, these Europeans were.

... no offense meant, Esgal. :P

None taken. I'm swede, and even though we're part of the European Union, we're nordic berserkers all of us :ph43r:

Err...you pronounce it like it sounds? B)

Um... I'm not even an Atheist... and I don't say "God bless you." I use "Jesus Christ!" a lot though... I don't say "God bless you" I shorten it to "Bless you" So, essentially, I just make it less goddy and more nice-y...

Everyone uses "Bless you" here. The thing is, the majority of us are Roman Catholic, and almost everyone else is still Christian. I guess it's just a saying. No one really pays attention to sayings, I find.

On a random note, a Korean exchange student told me that Catholic and Christian are two completely different religions in Korea, whereas here they're the same, pretty much.

If an Atheist is lying of saying your pledge or saying our Muslim pledge("There is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is his messenger, and he is alone") its not really our problem.We both believe in god, so let god take care of it. Its not our duty to really think or things that don't benifit us you know. But this is LUE forum....XD