Bow Your Head? Close Your Eyes? How to act when saying grace 101.
My guess is that this has been covered in another forum but I wanted to throw it out there;
So who among us has been the following situation: You are sitting at a friends or even a family's dinner table and everyone gets ready to say grace. Everyone bows their heads and or closes their eyes. What do you do? Do you close your eyes and or bow your head out of respect and think to yourself "omg this is such bs", or do you hold your atheist head up high with a kind of "suck-it" mentality I am not going to coddle you just because you expect me to, I'm an atheist dammit and proud of it!!!
Would love to hear your thoughts and stories!!
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by IEatDinosaurMeat on -
That's very interesting M. I like the idea of reciting something while the prayer is going on. Maybe I'll memorize some poem or something... Cause usually I'm so hungry and the prayer is sooo long that it feels like lifetimes go by and I need something to get my mind off the searing sensation in my stomach and god just don't do the trick.
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Permalink Reply by M on -
Well, it's polite of you not to eat. I think if the prayer got too long and I got too hungry, I would just dig in. I would make a joke of it; I doubt my family would be offended.
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Permalink Reply by Big Larr on -
Attended a wedding reception last night, and there was a blessing spoken by a family member of the bride right before dinner. During this invocation I glanced about the room (I don't bow my head, but I respectfully keep my mouth shut and remain silent, it's just good manners) and noticed that there were several people not bowing their heads or even hiding the fact they weren't praying. A very large percentage to my surprise (and happiness) as a matter of fact. This was an almost exclusively caucasian non-Jewish group of people, so what I can only take away from this is that there are many more atheists in the world than we likely know.
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Permalink Reply by Jerry Telle on -
Everyone I know -- knows my beliefs. If holding hands is part of their saying grace tradition I do that and even say "thank you" as everyone else says "amen." I went to a funeral for my father-in-law some years ago and communion was part of the ritual -- so when everyone else went to get their cracker and wine I just sat there.
The church was full. I didn't get so much as a snide look. No problem. Respecting my beliefs is essential to me and thus I must respect theirs.
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Permalink Reply by Gloria Stevens on -
My sister and her family and I were visiting our dad and his wife (they live far away, so a visit isn't often). We don't tell these very religious folks we are atheist. Yes, we bow our heads and hope they won't ask us to do it (I think they know deep down and wouldn't ask). My sister's son really liked "the blessing". He said, "Mom, can WE say the blessing before we eat when we get back home?" Hint Hint!
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Permalink Reply by Jeremy Aguilar on -
Because I have rights. they have to respect for what I am and I will respect them for their beliefs.
No, I will not do it. I will just hold my head up high.
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Permalink Reply by David S. on -
I just sit there and wait for them to finish. I don't bow or close my eyes though.
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Permalink Reply by Shanna on -
My family hold hands which I don't mind doing. But I do not bow or close my eyes. I remain silent when they say, "Amen". Sometimes I make faces at my 3 year old.
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Permalink Reply by Niki Liu on -
I am fortunate that my closest friends, oddly most of them are very religious, respect that I do not have the same beliefs they do and do not expect me to participate in grace or other prayers. They usually will do a quick grace to themsleves if they feel the need for a pre-meal prayer.
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Permalink Reply by Robert Karp on -
oh my no. thankfully!
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Permalink Reply by Luka Rek on -
Or, if you come out of the closet and your family does not accept you
You will burn in Hell
You will burn in Hell
[insert name] will burn in Hell
Till the end of days
...Not that it really happened
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Permalink Reply by Kris Feenstra on -
It would bother me if someone sang that at me. I thought I was supposed to be burning in Hell for all eternity, and not just until the end of days. If I'm going to be condemned to fiery torture, it should at least be done accurately.
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