Reply #94: If someone is insulted by who I am

[sybylla]

that is their problem. Apparently all education offends you? Has no one ever enlightened you without insulting you? Wow.

And you're right. I think most people don't think of the religious side of "bless you", or of "good bye" or of many of the things we say flippantly during the course of every day life. They are used thoughtlessly, by the religious and nonreligious without concern for what is really being said. And I don't take offense because someone uses one of those everyday religious phrases. Just as I hope they are decent people who won't be offended when I "enlighten" them as to my beliefs. I was trying to make a point. Rudeness is in the eye of the beholder and innocent statements can often offend, intent aside. The road to hell, they say, is paved with good intentions.

It is a thoughtful person who wields words carefully and who, I've discovered, is rarely offended by my attempts at enlightenment.