Sent an email with God Bless as a sign off

[ImJustMadAboutSaffron]

I wasn't sure where to put this.

I've just received a work related email from an outside organisation with some very useful contacts and project opportunities.

The author signed off as stated in the subject line. I don't care one way or another and shall follow up as usual.

I've never seen a work email signed off in this way. Would you think it not really the right thing to do? I can imagine someone somewhere would complain if they were petty enough.

So it's not me being unreasonable but do you think the sender is? It doesn't bother me, would it you?

Did you read the original post? I didn't say I would prefer anything. I didn't say I was either insulted or offended, either. It's gobsmacking how many people reply to posts and put their own spin on it, inventing things that simply aren't there. Mumsnet is a form of Chinese whispers for this. (Am I allowed to say that?!) If you read the OP, I said that I felt if anyone did complain, it would be petty.

I wrote this post because I'd never seen a professional email with that sign off, and as we see things in the news about this sort of thing (link below) I asked what people thought about the sign off.

wsvn.com/news/help-me-howard/religious-email-employee-cant-reference-god-in-email-signature/

(The views in the link above are for illustration purposes only and do not reflect my views😼 )

For info, 'love & light' is commonplace in some circles, I'd smile in recognition seeing that.

actually i do think phrases such as chinese whispers are best avoided; anything which references a group of people negatively.
if i heard or read that phrase in a work setting i would find it troublesome, unlike the god bless sign off.

actually i do think phrases such as chinese whispers are best avoided; anything which references a group of people negatively.
if i heard or read that phrase in a work setting i would find it troublesome, unlike the god bless sign off.

Yes it was eon in my case too. I had reason to contact them again today and also experienced a load of emojis in this response. I’m not sure if they’ve been given free reign to write whatever they like without any guidance or training or if perhaps they’ve ‘been on a course’. Either way I think they should consider feedback and see what customers actually think about it.

actually i do think phrases such as chinese whispers are best avoided; anything which references a group of people negatively.
if i heard or read that phrase in a work setting i would find it troublesome, unlike the god bless sign off.

No you are not allowed to say Chinese Whispers, it’s racist. And tbh there was no need to get uppity about a God bless sign off, people only say it when they mean well. Save your complaints for real problems.

Yet another responder who hasn't read the OP properly.

It's fucking weird

Like "it's all Greek to me" and the Spanish Inquisition. And we had better not play the old Malcolm McLaren song from 1983 any more, either. Maybe Careless Whispers. George Michael won't mind.

actually i do think phrases such as chinese whispers are best avoided; anything which references a group of people negatively.
if i heard or read that phrase in a work setting i would find it troublesome, unlike the god bless sign off.

Same here. And I live in the US Bible Belt.

One of my team signs her emails 'God bless'; I think it;s quite sweet. I suppose it's not orthodox, but I wouldn't describe her as unprofessional, quite the opposite.

It wouldn’t bother me, it’s not a big deal, let it go.

You don't care one way or another but you decided to start a thread about it?

actually you’re not allowed to say “uppity” either…

www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2011/11/yep-uppity-racist/335160/

Yes, because it's a discussion board. I wasn't after advice. I was interested in other viewpoints.

I'd assume 'God Bless' was meant kindly. If it had said 'May Demons Chase You' or 'Go To Hades' I'd raise an eyebrow.

I’m an atheist and it wouldn’t bother me, it might make me go “huh?” for a second, but I wouldn’t complain about it. Though I’m sure some people would be annoyed about it.

Honestly I kind of forget that religion exists sometimes, because it’s not in any part of my life- so that’s why it throws me for a moment when I hear things like “god bless”, but it doesn’t offend me at all.

I'm not religious, but I wouldn't care at all!

Wouldn't see it as significantly different than any other religion/event affiliated sign off - eg. Merry Christmas! or Eid Mubarak! or Happy New Year

Or whatever. Mind you, I've worked a lot of places across a lot of cultures, and so perhaps I'm a bit more tolerant of cultural idiosyncrasies than some might be.

I'd imagine they forgot who they were sending an email to and it's what they sign off on personal emails. Like the many times I've signed off to my boss xxxx

Stravaig that made me laugh, there are so many emails I send which need a 'curious, and irritated' sign off.

This

Wow! How intolerant do you sound?

I have very little patience for fanatics who think my spiritual life consists of a gaping hole where their faith ought to be. I have even less patience for said people when I am trying to deal with them in a professional context, and they can't control their God-related mentionitis for the duration of a conversation or email.

Christianity, in my view, is a destructive and pernicious force in the world. The sooner the religious accept that the rest of us are done with the nonsense, the better.