Question for Atheists

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Ok most of my mates are Atheists(fine by me!) however I have to know, if Atheists are so against God/dont believe in HIM, why do some of them say(that I know in real life) "God Bless you" when someone sneezes or say "God **** you?" If they dont believe in God, why say those things?

Culture and habit.

yet they get ticked off if someone says Merry Christmas, even if they know the person saying it, doesNOT mean any offense?

It's habit. I personally don't say "god bless you," or even "bless you." I say gesundheit.

I still say things like "god damnit," and "I swear to god," though. I haven't worked them outta my system yet, apparently.

I don't, but christians love freaking out about "happy holidays."

most atheists i know still say merry christmas, then again here in denmark there are yule traditions from before christianity and the word we use is jul, the modern equivelant.

that said is it still names and traditions from religion that atheists dont seem to have any issue using.

Last edited by Oodain on 02 Dec 2012, 10:11 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I'm not offended by that, and have not met anyone who was.

More likely for a jehova's witness to be offended.

Well, that's not all atheists. I like saying things like "oh my god" or "for the love of god" and stuff, because, as puddingmouse said, habit. And I say Merry Christmas, nothing wrong with that. It would seem like you have had to deal with some nasty sorts of atheists .

But they don't get ticked off by Merry Christmas.

What about the more colorful ways to use the name Jesus Christ?

that as well. *sigh* a Christian(me) whose best friends with Atheists, who isnt respected by their choice of language, yet I cant say anything Christian at all without being attacked. lol?

When someone sneezes, I just say "Thank you!" or "Great Sneeze!"

What are Christians supposed to say when someone farts?

"Did you pass gas or did Satan die in your colon?"

Just words,

If you were to us F*** (rhymes with duck), that does not mean you are inferring its original meaning "Fornication Under Consent of the King", its just a swear word. To use god, christ, holy, etc, also has no inference other than its what we collectively say when people sneeze, we hit our thumb with a hammer or witness something unusual.

The phrase "touch wood" comes from a pagan ritual of tree worship, later as with many pagan rituals it was adapted to infer you were knocking on the wood of a crucifixion cross. Christianity has hi-jacked many pagan rituals and made them their own. So when someone says happy christmas to me I usually respond with happy winter solstice to you too.

Many phrases/rituals are derive from pagan traditions (pre-christianity) the word holy is only found in the English translation of the bible and again points to tree worship "holy tree".

Easter is another good example, named after a Saxon deity called "Eostra" and that was derived from a ancient word for spring.

So they are just words and I would suggest if an atheist gets upset with these words, it is by what is inferred by who is speaking them. If I sneeze and someone says "god bless you" I take it as just a thing that is said when we sneeze. However if those words are spoken to me when I have not sneezed then the inference has a religious meaning and I would take issue with the person, probably by sarcastically asking which "god"....

Any Atheist who puts any effort into avoiding sayings like "god bless you" is being silly for several reasons. This is a misunderstanding of how language works. The person using "God Bless You" does not intend to actually call upon god to bless this person. I still use the phrase "good bye" despite the fact that the phrase originated from "God be with ye." If someone stopped using a phrase because it involves a fictional being that would be laughable. I am in no way endorsing Paganism by using the names of the days of the week (Many of which originate from the names of Germanic gods.)

Your friends who are attacking you for saying anything christian don't sound too friendly. They may not understand how convincing religion can be, or they may feel oppressed living in a society where they are a minority. Atheists are people. They will believe stupid things and say stupid things. Religious people seem to have such a hard time believing atheists can act irrational too. Don't be surprised when some Athiests get mad when someone says "Merry Christmas," but don't act like it's an Atheist thing to get mad about this. That would be a huge generalization to make based on a small group of touchy people, some of whom are atheists.

The difference between saying "God bless you" and "Merry Christmas" is that the first is habit, as puddingmouse said, i.e. it often just slips out of your mouth when someone sneezes and you don't think about it, while the second is a deliberately spoken sentiment that has thought and purpose behind it. You don't just accidentally say "Merry Christmas".