How to respond to "God bless you" statements

[Fromper]

No, I'm not talking about sneezing (again).

I live in a major city, and there are a fair number of people on the streets who are down on their luck, and asking for money. Not surprising, given the economy. Since I'm doing well in my career, I have extra money that I can afford to give away as charity, so I'll frequently give me spare change away to those who obviously need it more than I do. They're always appreciative, and after thanking me, many of them will say "God bless you" or something similar.

In the past, I've usually ignored this, but as I'm becoming more engaged in atheism (as opposed to just passively not believing in any gods and not really doing anything about it), I'm thinking that I should respond to these statements, and let these people know I'm an atheist. I'm not talking about any sort of preaching, or trying to convert them. I just want a quick, polite statement to let them know I don't believe in their god, just to introduce the concept of being good without god. If we want to end the discrimination against atheists, I really believe this is the type of activism that will do it.

Any suggestions for a succinct, polite response?

[Chad32]

I'd take it as just a saying. There's no telling if they just mean it as another way of saying thank you, or if they're actually religious. Now if you want to take someone to a cafe and chat with them, and the subject comes up, go ahead and talk about it. If you're just dropping some change on your way to whatever, just say you're welcome.

[truthBtold]

Yeah.. I thought about that before... im not better than them, but I think their lives are tuff and if thats the only thing that they cling to, I dont mind..

[Tonus]

Any suggestions for a succinct, polite response?

Smile and nod? It doesn't strike me as much different from "farewell" or "good luck" as a sendoff.

[Cato]

If I don't know the person I use Tonus' technique.

If I know the person I reply "No thank you". Most people leave it alone with a look of mild disgust or roll of the eyes. The few that have tried to press the issue quickly run into something along the lines of: "I don't need help from the shitty engineer that fucked up the design in the first place".

[Fromper]

Well, I've mostly just said "You're welcome" in the past (assuming they say "Thank you" first, which most of them do) and ignored the God talk.

Like I said, I'm mostly thinking in terms of trying to spread the message that atheists can be good people, not to convert anyone, and certainly not to get into a debate. If they want to believe in some religion, that's their business. Given all the discrimination against atheists, I'm just shooting for a grass roots "Look! We're good people, too!" approach to help win over the general public.

I'm thinking in response to the typical "Thank you and God bless you", I could just respond with "You're welcome, but I don't believe in God", and then keep walking.

I guess this makes me a "new atheist":

[Raeven]

I think the one you suggest is a good one. I usually just smile and say, "Thanks, but I'm an atheist." And leave it at that.

I agree that spreading the message that atheists walk among the religious and are good people without their crutch is important. I do many, many altruistic and charitable things. While I don't shove my atheism in anyone's face, usually the "God" aspect comes up sooner or later and I have the opportunity to gently point out my non-believer status. It's much more effective that way. Some people are downright shocked that atheists can be good, giving, altruistic people. I love shocking them.

[Cyberman]

If they're just using the phrase as conversational punctuation, best to ignore it. If they really want to save what they see as your soul, say something like "please don't patronise me", or "I'm fine with you believing that stuff, but please pay me the courtesy of not pretending it's real. If that's too much to ask, then at least try not to include me in the fantasy, ok?"

[Foxaèr]

I either ignore it, state with certainty that I am an atheist and it has no meaning to me, or if I feeling a little pernicious I will state And Satan bless you.

[Cyberman]

Yeah, back in the day I've been known to say "sorry, I'm a Satanist" to street preachers. That's why my Sam would grab my arm and steer me away from them, if she saw them first.