Admin webmdave Posted April 21, 2007 Admin Share Posted April 21, 2007 by Amanda, a.k.a. newly not So I'm in a bit of a dilemma here being newly not. I was in the car the other day with my Christian friend - whom, to her knowledge, still thinks I'm a Christian, too - when she did the unthinkable - she sneezed. I sat there in silence, scrambling to come up with how I would react. Do I betray myself and go all hypocritical by saying "bless you"? I'd rather not. How about subtly turning it into an atheist thing by "accidentally" pronouncing it wrong? (WTF is a "blesh"?!). Nah, that phrase is too close for comfort in conforming to Christian culture. I could say "excuse you", but some would consider that even ruder than remaining mum. "Gesundheit"? Changing the language is not changing the origins. I could always say nothing...as in, sorry I'm not acknowledging your biological, involuntary functions! I chose to do the latter. Gosh, that isn't very polite now, is it? To counter, I thought it was a dumb aspect of culture to begin with. I mean, no one says "congrats" when you cough. Why do we sometimes feel the pull to blindly conform to entrenched godly traditions? ("Thank God!" is another one that comes to mind). Not giving an empty blessing is a fairly simple choice to no longer make in this situation. Ya'll can go on "skipping heartbeats", and I'll skip wasting my breath. To monitor comments posted to this topic, use . http://exchristian.net/exchristian/2007/04...-and-curse.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R. S. Martin Posted April 21, 2007 Share Posted April 21, 2007 "Gesundheit"? Changing the language is not changing the origins. I thought Gesundheit means health. Where I come from, sneezes weren't acknowledged. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garnet Posted April 21, 2007 Share Posted April 21, 2007 It basically means good health. That's what my family says and what I still say as a habit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fweethawt Posted April 21, 2007 Share Posted April 21, 2007 Anymore, I don't say anything when people sneeze. But when they burp or fart, I'll say, "God bless you." I figure, what the hey, ya know? If saying "Bless you." to one bodily function is acceptable, why not say it for the others? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mongo Posted April 22, 2007 Share Posted April 22, 2007 You can try "gaboinkies" or Godzilla but you are perfectly safe with gezundheit (health). This is a past thread on the topic. http://www.ex-christian.net/index.php?show...=13321&st=0 Mongo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts