Saying "God bless" is not a "violation of secularism"

I read this letter, written by an unidentified Temasek Junior College (TJC) student, and I am amazed by the parallels that were drawn between a simple phrase like "God bless" and a violation of secular space in schools. I do not see the correlation at all, and I say this as an atheist and a former student at St Joseph's Institution (SJI), a known Catholic school.

The author was correct about SJI. Despite it being a Catholic school, the brothers who ran it never proselytised. They were sensitive to individuals and their faiths, and never forced anyone to follow the daily prayers. In my time, every class had a Prayer Leader, who was part of the class committee, but all they requested from students was that same respect for their religion as the one they displayed for other religions. This is something to be admired, and it is a tradition worth keeping.

But ending a speech with the words "God bless" is not the same as teaching creationism or "intelligent design" in the classroom. It is different from mandating studies of the Bible or the Quran or the Torah or any holy book in a secular environment. And it is unequivocally clear to me that it is not proselytising. Nor is the President of the 32nd TJC Student Council, who uttered the offending phrase, expounding the virtues of her religion over others.

Without a doubt, I do not support teaching anything like intelligent design in a science class. I do not support organised religion dominating the political landscape, nor would I support any religions; that is my stand as an atheist.

At the same time, I do not approve of the author's categorising "God bless" as a violation of secularism; I think he/she is being oversensitive to a phrase as benign as "God bless", and we should be careful to not muzzle such expressions because it is construed, mistakenly, as a statement of religious intent.

I do not support religions, and I do not believe in the deities that are worshipped in those religions, but I support their right to practice it. They should practice caution when bringing in religious arguments in a secular space because it is blatant disregard of the beliefs of others, be they of other faiths or non-believers; that is disrespectful and dangerous. Cutting out all expressions because of possible religious connotations, phrases like "God bless", "Shalom", or "Assalamualaikum", is just as disrespectful and dangerous.

The country and society would be so much poorer if we choose to practice such PC thoughtcrime. It promotes fear instead of understanding, and a people who cannot be relied upon to develop their own thoughts or formulate their own directions, and muzzles freedom of speech and practice of religion.

I strongly suggest the author get over it, and I will be surprised if any atheist actually agrees with what he wrote. I end by reminding everyone of the wisdom of Thomas Paine:

He that would make his own liberty secure must guard even his enemy from oppression; for if he violates this duty he establishes a precedent that will reach to himself.