Is it me, or is saying bless you after sneezing the most inane and outdated thing going in Western culture?

Question

Is it me, or is saying bless you after sneezing the most inane and outdated thing going in Western culture?

I mean, there are no evil spirits invading your body after you sneeze. There is no supernatural elements to the world, just that which hasn't been explained or studied by science and reason.

Why do people cling to saying "bless you" ,or even worse "God, bless you", after someone sneezes? They don't need a prayer or belief in a make-believe deity, but rather a Kleenex or some cold medicine... both of which are products of science and rational thought.

And the worst, if you don't believe in their bogus, silly belief system, and don't want to respond to their blessing in a positive, thankful way, you come off as seeming like an ingrateful, callous jerk or even a....godless, profane heathen who doesn't understand how the world truly works !!!!

Get rid of saying god bless you after sneezing.... if you want to do something helpful and productive, offer me a Kleenex.

Answer 1

lol

Answer 2

If you respond negatively to someone's blessing you are an ingrateful, callous jerk.

I'm sorry that you can't seem to come to terms with that and therefore deem it necessary to rant about something this insignificant.

Maybe you could take up a hobby or something?

Answer 3

its only  being polite. No matter where that began, or what it means, it really is a polite thing to say. Sorry you can't accept a small manner.

Answer 4

I prefer to punch them in the arm and berate them for getting germs near me.

Answer 5

It accomplishes nothing.  I think people just do it from habit.

Answer 6

your preaching to the choir

Answer 7

I am a "non-believer", but I say "Bless-you" to people when they sneeze, and I like it when people say "Bless-you" to me when I sneeze. I never say "God-Bless-you", and I am a little uncomfortable when people say "God-Bless-you" to me.

I think that saying "Bless-you" after a sneeze is simple affection, a chance to say, "I care about you" in a spotaneous and non-threatening way. Remember the Louis Armstrong song, "What a Beautiful World"? My favorite line is "I see friends shaking hands, saying 'How do you do'. They're really saying 'I love you'." I think that Blessing someone after a sneeze is the same thing.

Answer 8

WHEN YOU SNEEZE THE SPASM STOPS YOUR HEART YOU SAY BLESS YOU,OR gOD BLESS YOU SO YOUR HEART MAY RESTART. I HAD A CO-WORKER TELL ME OKAY AFTER I SNEEZED AND SHE'S A CHRISTIAN I TOLD HER THE PROPER RESPONSE IS BLESS YOU!

Answer 9

I'd offer you a kleenex if I thought it would help with this rant. What a silly thing to obsess about! You have your own description in the second paragraph. You might think about that instead of worrying about something that has been in existence for since the year 77 AD.

Bless you is a common English expression addressed to a person after they sneeze. The origin of the custom and its original purpose are known. In current practice, it is a socially obligated response.

Several possible origins are commonly given. The practice of blessing a sneeze, dating as far back as at least 77 AD, however, is far older than most specific explanations can account for.

One explanation holds that the custom originally began as an actual blessing. Gregory I became Pope in 590 as an outbreak of the bubonic plague was reaching Rome. In hopes of fighting off the disease, he ordered unending prayer and parades of chanters through the streets. At the time, sneezing was thought to be an early symptom of the plague. The blessing ("God bless you!") became a common effort to halt the disease.

Find something constructive to rant about!

Answer 10

People used to think that the soul left the body when a person sneezed and that they could help it get back in if they said, "God bless you". I never learned what happened to a person who was alone when he sneezed. And what would you say to God if he sneezed?

If you don't like the expression, say "Gesuntheit" (Health).