Hi Green!

Thank you! All the responses I got were all so nice!

I love you guys, and I'm sure you are all right about how to handle the, "Blessed Day BS". However, my only thought is that I feel like we are, in some way, capitulating to their religiosity by going along with it. By capitulating, it is as if to say... "Yeah, yeah, yeah. OK, ... You have your neurosis, and I'll have mine!" ha, ha, ha!!!!

BTW, tell your kids I love them for their "Snicker"!!! How old are they?

Big Al

@Alw314 they’re 12&15. I agree with your point however I think people do it out of habit and not malice. As my boys are usually with me, I want to show them how to be kind even when we have different beliefs. Being in the south, it’s kinda baked into the cake.

@Green_eyes "Baked into the cake???" You are too funny!!! Well, I have a few questions for you. Do you think we Atheists should try to eliminate religion? After all, don't you think that religious differences cause a lot of anguish and suffering around the world? (9/11 is a perfect example!)

But if we Atheists and Agnostics are the antidote to a religious world, how can we best get the message across in a gentle way? I will start another post with this question!

Big Al

@Alw314 religion may be the cause of a lot of problems but as a health care professional I cannot ignore the physiological strength I can bring to some. We cannot put ourselves in a position of judge, it makes us no better than they are when they persecute others for having different beliefs... it’s not just about 9/11.. what about that idiot missionary that endangered a whole community to “spread the word”. There’s fanatics in all faiths.
We do know agnosticism is growing slowly as the world becomes a more scientific place. Will it ever go away completely.. who knows??

@Green_eyes I have "faith" that reason will prevail in the long run. That, and a good sense of humor keeps me going and somewhat sane (in this insane world).

But believe it or not, you guys, all of you on this web site, are a breath of fresh air and y'all give me renewed hope in the future of men and women everywhere.

I am a retired Telecomm Support Engineer. What do you do in the Medical Industry?

Big Al

OMG! Like a curse!?!!??

Just imagine a world where words actually had power (as if prayers really worked). And if someone said, "Have a Blessed Day" to you, that it was magical, and everything suddenly started going your way!"

Once people figured it out, everyone would be wishing (each other) to have a Blessed Day, and they would all win at Black Jack and the slot machines would soon empty!!! Las Vegas and Atlantic City would go broke! Sounds like a good plot for a feel good movie! But would such a movie encourage religiosity? I wonder.

Thanks BPB!

Big Al

@Alw314
I've a good friend who's a senior exec at Sony Pictures. I'll run this by him.

They're trying...

When I was in my teens, whenever JWs came to my door, I used to be polite and decline their overtures. If my Mom answered, she would slam the door in their faces as hard as she could. However, they kept coming back. Then one time, when they asked if I was christian, I said no, and they asked, why not? I said that religion is a mechanism for social control and went on to expound on my theories. Dumbfounded, they left and never came back. I learned that having confidence in one's ideas pays dividends.

@elperroloco Thanks for the story! That was fun!
Whenever I had JWs at my house I would engage them in rational arguments of all kinds, that is, if I had the time. My goal was not to convert them (as much as I would like that) but just to crack open the door to their closed minds if possible. You never know. If presented with reason often enough, they just may begin to doubt their insane beliefs and quit the church at some point in the distant future.

The last time I engaged a few on my front porch it was a beautiful spring day and I asked them if my Shitzhu dog, named "Tutu" was going to heaven. Of course they said no. And I asked, "Why not?" And they said Tutu did not have a soul. And again, I said, why not? And they said my dog does not have emotions! Obviously, they never owned a cat or a dog!!!

I think pets are all about love! They love you, and you love them back (or visa versa). I always liked the idea that all dogs go to heaven. Of course, being an atheist, I don't really believe in heaven, but it is such a nice idea because our pets are so good to us. I really did love Tutu. She was such a good dog!

R. Allan Worrell

I think it is important, particularly when we are charitable, to let the recipient know we are not doing it because we are religious. Why? It restores a person's belief in his fellow man, apart from religion. In other words, you are showing you can be good (and have compassion) without religion!!! If the recipient has half a brain, they will get the message, and you have helped to lay the foundation for all of us!

Thank you!

Big Al

Hi Pam -

Where did you move from?

Since you are now in NC, be prepared to hear it a lot! I'm really just an easy, out-going guy who is super friendly to all stripes of people from every corner of the globe. But I have had the, "Have a Blessed Day" thrown at me so much here in both NC and SC that it has turned me into a Militant Atheist !!!

I know they mean well, but it just shows me how many people are incapable of thinking for themselves! A Blessed Day??? Really? Who is going to bless it? People are so brainwashed by their religion it gives me the creeps!

I sometimes feel it is my moral and civic duty to "push back" in a polite way, just to let them know that not everyone is brainwashed. Maybe, just maybe, it will give them pause the next time they start to say, "Have a blessed day." and continue to perpetuate the lie.

Big Al

@Alw314 I grew up in Mass and raised my family in NH. Here in NC was the first time I heard " have a blessed day", it was the asst. principal of the school I worked at when I first moved here. I was shocked as in Mass growning up in the 70's we didn't say the pledge "under one god" portion in my public school. The religious can make you crazy.

Nothing to do with religion? It's called Christ mas!

I dislike when people rush to bless me after I sneeze. Do you really think you saved my life? Perhaps I truly do need a blessing. Maybe a ride, or rent. Oh you were just being polite? I feel blessed! Thank you!