I heard a sneeze and turned my head in response.  The sneezer and I made eye contact.  I smiled, dumbly.  Before I found my voice, I listened to the   multiple thoughts in my head...

"If the sneezer is a Johavah's Witness, like my cousin I might  get a lecture about the pagen beliefs that started the "God Bless You" habits."

"If the person is a Native American, like my husband, I might get a silent stare as a reminder that his people were victimized by the European God that is being called out."

Here we are in the midst of Jewish High Holy Days, just as Muslim Ramadan has ended and the American pain of 9-11 is being remembered.   Just when we should be most knowledgeable about the vast religious beliefs around us,  and more tolerant about them, we are becoming a country of cowboy bigots.  

 A cowboy bigot would hear the sneeze and damn it all, yell out a hearty "God Bless You" in defiance of the sneezer's beliefs.  I couldn't do that.

 Another person might simply ignore the sneeze, not wanting to get involved in the other person's expectation of a comment.  I couldn't do that.

I can't ignore the automatic response that wells up in me when I hear a sneeze. I can't impose my comment on someone who might be against the whole thing.

 I continue to smile and say "May I say 'God Bless You?' " The sneezer nods and we part our ways in the second or two of our entire interaction.  Welcome to the tolerant America that I would like to see.  Just a little acknowledgement that we don't all see the world through the same prism,  yet we can all interact peacefully and with respect.