Saying god bless you.
 

I'm personally not religious at all. In fact I don't really believe a god exists per se, but I wouldn't consider myself an atheist either. Anyway, I was thinking about this the other day. It is considered appropriate to say god bless you to someone who sneezes and rude not to say it. The whole saying though is technically a religious saying, but most people don't consider it religious because it is so commonly used.

So would you consider it rude for an atheist or someone who doesn't really believe in god to not say god bless you? I know it is considered rude not to say it, but I don't like the feeling of being "forced" to say it, like if I was out on a date or something. I usually say it anyway, because most people don't consider it a religious saying at all, but technically it really is.

What is your take on it?

I say "bless you", I don't know it you think that makes a difference because I'm not particularily religious. I don't mind if someone else says it, religious or not. In the society we live in where faith is much more of a non-issue it's not such a big deal if someone feigns religiousness.

I say "bless you" as well. Its a knee-jerk reaction, and I say it as a response to someone sneezing without even thinking. It comes out more or less as a quick "bles-ewe"

I never say bless you after someone sneezes, just like how nobody says it whenever someone coughs. In my eyes, coughing and sneezing are equally valid methods for the body to employ to rid of foreign irritants, so I don't subscribe to this prevailing preferential treatment in favour of the latter.

The only bodily function for which I offer a spoken acknowledgment is the fart, my acknowledgments usually taking the form of a rating out of 10. And I only do this with close friends, as it is perhaps not appropriate for the times when the stranger standing next to you at the urinal releases one accidently through involuntary sphincter relaxation.

I have no firm belief either so when talking to other people I usually leave the
'god' part out in case they have some sort of crazy reaction or some shit.

Being a militant atheist, I never say anything after a person sneezes. It's just a normal human reaction/function and I am in no way offended by. Similar to passing gas and coughing, I just don't care. I do object to people saying such things to me, and generally ask them not to after I am done sneezing.

I don't say it because I think it's pretty dumb.

According to modern etiquette, the person who sneezed should instead apologize and other people should then accept it or just ignore it. This "god bless you" stuff is inappropriate and outdated.

You shouldn't have to apologize for something that's largely involuntary, unless you happened to have your hands full and couldn't drop whatever precious china you were holding in time to shield your nose and mouth and prevent a devastating flu pandemic.

It happened a few times recently to me where someone sneezes and then I say "Bless you", and after I realise I subconsciously said it, then I feel like a bit of an idiot (and no offense to those people who do say "Bless you", it's just that I'm not that religious and quite frankly, I don't think sneezes demand people to act courteous.).

Meh, I'll learn.

A little dane cook humor also discussing "god bless you" to an athiest.

I just say bless you when someone sneezes. Still don't know why but then I think of Millhouse. "saying god bless you brings the soul back from escaping"
It's a logical explanation.

I'm not religious at all, but I say "bless you". This is because I'm blessing them with super powers. That.. don't do anything.

I guess this is going to be something to do with up-bringing (in terms of the specific phrase used), but yeah I say "bless you" like most people. Certainly don't say "god bless you".

I don't necessarily mind saying "bless you" or having it said to me. I'm not religious and I don't care if the other person is, to me they're just being nice. But "gesundheit" always sounded "cooler" to me so I say that instead if I bother to say anything at all. "Bless you" and "God bless you" I probably wouldn't say now because it just reminds of overly feel-good family Full House/7th Heaven/etc. "I love you sweetie I'm so proud of you *audiences goes awwwwww*" junk that makes me uncomfortable for whatever reasons.

I say "You are soooo good lookin'."

I'm an atheist, so I don't say either "God bless you" or "bless you." Even if it is to show manners, I don't understand what "bless you" in the response of a sneeze means without the religious connotation. Someone else says it anyway.

I am not religious at all, and I always say 'bless you' when someone sneezes. It's just a polite thing to do, and NOBODY I've ever said it to was offended by it. That's a good thing, because too many people are easily offended these days >_>

Let's put it this way: "goodbye" is actually a shortened form of "God be with you (ye)." So if you can't say "bless you" to a militant atheist, you can't say "bye" either. And that's just one of thousands of religiously-derived words in the English language.

I am a religious person, but I think that these terms have been brought into common usage and that little, if anything, remains of their original, religious meaning. If someone is hypersensitive about it, chances are they're just looking for a fight or a landmark court case that will catapult them into the national spotlight.

I don't know, most times it's kind of an automatic reaction. it's the same thing when an athiest once told me to go to hell

come to think of it, I never say bless you when someone sneezes.

I always say "Bless you" after someone sneezes. I was raised to say it as just plain simple common courtesy to those around me. I pretty much do it without thinking for anybody I hear that sneezes - even if its some random joe on the street. I'm just like that I guess.

9 times out of 10 I always get a thank you in return. So...it's all good I guess.

I tease Sass about saying it to me all the time. We're both atheist, so she says it's just a figure of speech.

I don't use the phrase and I'm religious. Why? I don't understand it.

Definitions from answers.com:
Out of these, only 5 seems to fit. So, I'd be saying, "God bestow well-being on you." Doesn't God have better things to do than fix everyone's sneezing problems? It'll go away on its own without Him...

Well, it's a superstition. It's about as religious as attending church.