Tennessee teen in trouble for saying 'bless you' after sneeze

[exboyfil]

http://www.tennessean.com/story/news/local/2014/08/20/tennessee-teen-in-trouble-for-saying-bless-you-after-sneeze/14366865/

"Bless you" is on a list of banned words/phrases in the classroom. So long as an individual is allowed to speak after a sneeze, I don't see how this particular phrase can lead to punishment.

https://www.aclu.org/religion-belief/joint-statement-current-law-religion-public-schools


1. Students have the right to pray individually or in groups or to discuss their religious views with their peers so long as they are not disruptive.

Religious messages on T-shirts and the like may not be singled out for suppression.

[valerief]

1. Mylanta, the religious persecution! Ack! nt

[ncjustice80]

14. CHRISTIAN PERSECUTION!!!!

[unblock]

2. i think this is a bit extreme, but "bless you" is rather different from "bless me".

prayer that is self-directed (please let me pass this math test) or generally directly (praise god, world peace, etc.) is fine and is protected (as long as it's not otherwise disruptive to the classroom or other pupils, which is what the teacher apparently is claiming in this case).

prayer that is directed at other people who might not share the same religious views is not. imagine going up to a non-christian pupil and saying "i hereby baptize you in the name of jesus christ". "bless you" has hardly the same weight as baptizing someone, but it's of the same form, directing one's religious views at another. religious discussions are protected only if everyone involved in the discussion is willing.

personally, i was brought up to say "gesundheit", which means "health". i've never offended anyone with that.

[rurallib]

3. not to hijack your thread, but I never know what to say

to someone who says 'bless you' when I sneeze.
I almost said 'fuck you I am an atheist' one day but bit my tongue and offered a weak 'thank you.'

But the 'bless you' puts folks like me in a bit of a pickle. I don't want to raise a stink over something so trivial, but dammit, don't assume everyone is religious and welcomes your show of religiosity.

My understanding is that the phrase bless you comes from the middle ages when christians of the day believed a part of the soul left the body with a sneeze. The 'bless you' would either replace or or send that piece back where it was.
- if that were true, me and my allergies have blown away about ten souls over the years, especially this time of year. Maybe I should get a recording saying 'bless you' to get all those souls back.

Thanks for letting me vent.

Were I in that classroom I would have been offended.

[frylock]

5. i sometimes will say "no thanks"

usually I just ignore it.

[rurallib]

8. methinks you have a real problem.

I am guessing you wanted discussionist.

[TBF]

9. Exactly -

that new poster replied in a completely inappropriate way to one of my posts in the Elizabeth Warren Group. I didn't bother to alert because it was an older post that I doubt anyone would see ... but I'll put it here so folks can judge for themselves:

brutus cassius (14 posts)
3. Most important...

12. We believe that through coercive force & the threat thereof is the proper way to achieve our program, & in fact is the best way for humans to socially relate to each other, universally.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/12651514

The poster obviously believes that progressives are fascists of some sort. I'm surprised that MIRT has not handled this issue.

[freebrew]

4. When I was younger...

the question would have been asked: "Did you get any on you?"

[littlemissmartypants]

6. I usually ask: Do you sneeze into your elbow? ?

Following that with a demonstration and saying you should really sneeze into your elbow, a sneeze can spread germs eight feet into the air. Do you want to spread germs?

This speech is done with the precision of a rapid fire scoped weapon. Meant to teach health and empathy, it is remembered and mostly respected because I drop it and walk.

Personally if I were the teacher this could be a teachable moment for so many reasons. Using this as a rule to reduce disruption in the classroom is a fair indication of the state are classrooms have descended into and that is disturbing.

Love, Peace and Shelter.
Lmsp 🙌

[Fairgo]

12. Well done

I like that...very organic public health PSA.

[littlemissmartypants]

13. Thanks you. I am very serious when it comes to public health. nt