Words only have the impact you give them, they are NOT MAGIC.
I once got into a debate with a Jew on another atheist website when they insisted we not spell out "Yahweh". How polite can you be in pointing out to them, that is their bag, not ours? We were not trying to offend them by spelling it out, but merely doing our own thing because we don't see the word as magic.
I often request when I sneeze that people don't say "bless you" to me. I don't like the superstitious history behind it, even if now it is seen as being polite. But I don't go ape shit if I hear it said to others.
What I don't do is insist it never be said to others in my earshot. And I certainly don't get offended when my believing friends say "bless you" as a jab knowing I prefer they don't say it to me.
I once got into a debate with a Jew on another atheist website when they insisted we not spell out "Yahweh". How polite can you be in pointing out to them, that is their bag, not ours? We were not trying to offend them by spelling it out, but merely doing our own thing because we don't see the word as magic.
I often request when I sneeze that people don't say "bless you" to me. I don't like the superstitious history behind it, even if now it is seen as being polite. But I don't go ape shit if I hear it said to others.
What I don't do is insist it never be said to others in my earshot. And I certainly don't get offended when my believing friends say "bless you" as a jab knowing I prefer they don't say it to me.
