Teacher bans phrase 'God bless you' after a sneeze

UNDATED -- A teacher in California is disciplining students for saying “God bless you” after someone sneezes.

The high school health teacher said it has nothing to do with religious beliefs. He finds the response disrespectful and disruptive.

"The blessing doesn't really make sense anymore. When you sneeze in the old days, they thought you were dispelling evil spirits out of your body. So they were saying, 'God bless you' for getting rid of evil spirits. But today, I said what you're doing doesn't really make any sense anymore,” said Steve Cuckovich, the teacher.

The teacher knocked 25 points from one student’s grade for saying “God bless you” in class.

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