is it wrong to say god bless you?

by candidlynuts 9 Replies latest jw friends

  • candidlynuts
    candidlynuts

    i got fussed at once for writing " may God bless you in your new marriage" on a wedding card.

    got funny looks when i said once " God really has blessed us" when talking about my daughter to someone.

    seems the jw's took gods blessings away from me.

  • Confucious
    Confucious

    Nuts,

    It's part of the propaganda routine.

    Next time you're around the dubs, try saying this...

    "The Lord is my Savior. I Love the Lord."

    Lets see how many strange looks you get.

    WE do. WE love Jesus. Jesus is our Savior.

    The believe that, too.

    But they are big on their politically correct saying stuff.

    Con

  • RR
    RR

    Witnesses don't say "God Bless you" when you sneeze, because it's an old superstitious custom, that when you sneeze, you leave yourself open for the demons to come and take over your body.

    However,I have hadmany Witnesses in the day, tell me "may Jehovah bless you ... yadda yadda yadda"

    I don't see what the problem is.

    RR

  • Confucious
    Confucious

    RR,

    It goes back to that...

    "Don't say you're lucky... But it's ok to say your fortunate."

    It's the same damn thing.

    Con

  • in a new york bethel minute
    in a new york bethel minute

    RR is rite... they always say stuff like "may Jehovah bless u" at weddings during the speeches... i guess that way everybody knows which God it is that they want to bless u... and it's also free advertising put out towards the worldlings that are around

    bethel

  • ozziepost
    ozziepost

    Nuts,

    It depends entirely on what you believe. If you believe that you have God in your life and that he's sovereign of all, then of course you'll give him the credit for bringing such a beautiful child into the world for you to nurture.

    If not, it doesn't matter, does it?

    .............................................................Or does it?

    Cheers, Ozzie

  • candidlynuts
    candidlynuts

    well i'm not giving my ugly ole ex credit lmao. so it had to be God!

  • Rabbit
    Rabbit
    Witnesses don't say "God Bless you" when you sneeze, because it's an old superstitious custom, that when you sneeze, you leave yourself open for the demons to come and take over your body.

    MAYBE, Witnesses could start shopping at garage sales, if the GB OK'd, "Gawd bless ya'!

  • willy_think
    willy_think
    Is it wrong to say god bless you?

    No, if you wish/pray for God to bless someone, you can do it silently or orally.

    Yes, if what you really mean to say is, may god curse you to eternal death for not believing the same thing as me.

    Or maybe it is pointless, since God only hears the WT appointed spokesman.

  • blondie
    blondie

    As a German speaker, I can tell you that Germans are not thinking of demons when they say "Gesundheit" when you sneeze. They are merely wishing good health to the sneezer. The WTS quibbles about gnatlike things just like the Pharisees.

    *** g99 10/22 p. 3 Superstitions?How Widespread Today? ***

    Superstitions?How Widespread Today?IT HAPPENS everywhere?at work, at school, on public transportation, and on the street. You sneeze, and people you?ve never met, mere passersby, say: "God bless you" or simply "Bless you." There are similar expressions in many languages. In German the response is "Gesundheit." Arabs say "Yarhamak Allah," and some South Pacific Polynesians say "Tihei mauri ora."

    Believing that it is simply common courtesy rooted in social etiquette, you may have given little thought to why people say this. Yet, the expression is rooted in superstition. Moira Smith, librarian at the Folklore Institute at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana, U.S.A., says of the expression: "It comes from the idea that you are sneezing out your soul." To say "God bless" is, in effect, asking God to restore it.

    Of course, most people would probably agree that to believe that the soul escapes your body during a sneeze is irrational. Not surprisingly, therefore, Webster?s Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary defines superstition as "a belief or practice resulting from ignorance, fear of the unknown, trust in magic or chance, or a false conception of causation."

    *** g00 6/8 p. 30 From Our Readers ***

    Superstition

    As a linguist, I must bring to your attention an error in the October 22, 1999, Awake! In the series "Superstitions?Why So Dangerous?" you inferred that the German word gesundheit is a way of saying "God bless you" when someone sneezes. The English translation of the word is "health."

    C. C., United States

    We

    did not mean to imply that "gesundheit" was the exact translation of the English expression. It was listed, along with two other foreign-language expressions, as being "similar" in usage to the English expression "God bless you."?ED.

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