The Obsession with Discussing the Supposed Rudeness of Atheists

[Thumpalumpacus]

... which is exactly why I made explicitly clear why I say it.

You did read that part, right?

I also do this, explicitly make clear that I am not saying "God bless you", but deliberately using another term.

In French (Spanish and Italian have almost-identical words), the term is "Salut" (sah'-loo), and it simply means "health".

German is similar, meaning "good health". They are wishes of prosperity.

"(May) God bless you" is an expression of superstition, from a time when people believed that sneezing was a sign of evil spirits in the air trying to possess you, and the blessing was to ward off the evil spirits. I think that people, even Christians, would do well to abandon this concept.

Then again, I think the same of saying a blessing for the food about to be consumed (thanking God for the bounty is another matter), that the evil spirits might be cast out and the food not harm its consumers.

I wonder why more Christians don't take umbrage with the Germ Theory of Disease, since it's what destroyed those two concepts.

As I said, I do also use "salud", a habit I picked up when I lived in Spain.