So many more things to get bent out of shape about other than well intentioned gestures.

I believe intent matters. If a person is generally wishing me well, in whatever manner is common for them, I say thank you. If they are trying to fix me thru prayer or using it to didain, the phrase I say still includes the word "you" but isn't as pleasant.

We don't want to mirrors of oversensitive Christians that think "Happy Holidays" is a curse.

I am at the point if someone says "God bless you", I tell them I am an atheist and they should think about saying that before they say it. I'm tired of it.

When others attempt to wish me well in whatever way, I am grateful.

You get to feel however you want to feel. You get to react however the hell you want to react.
Whatever anyone thinks about it doesn't matter.
I don't like it, at all, when anyone throws that religious bullshit at me. No matter how "well-intended" it may be.
Depending on my mood, I may or may not respond. Usually, I just ignore it.

I have some affinity for aspects of most comments here. I however don't have the energy or time to be angry at well-meaning people for trying to be nice. My reactions range from nothing at all to mild annoyance or bemusement. Living as I do outside the Bible Belt, I really don't get significant unsolicited god-talk anyway.

I am way more concerned about the overall meta-effects of religious faith on society, particularly the influence in the US enabling Trumpism and amplifying the effects of other mean-spirited and hateful ideologies (racism, xenophobia, homophobia, the various shame-and-blame heaped on the disadvantaged, etc), enabling the rape of the environment, etc. Perhaps "god bless you" is symbolic for you of these larger concerns, but I don't think you're going to accomplish much by attacking innocuous harms when you could be attacking major ones.

Personally I'll ignore "I'll pray for you" and spend time and energy at a protest or supporting a progressive candidate to push one of those asshats out of office.

I was in a really foul mood one day, as I was leaving my house, I saw a gang of JWs walking up my driveway. I asked them to please get off of my property, they stood their ground, then I got in one of their faces and told them to GET THE FUCK OFF OF MY PROPERTY NOW, without saying a word the entire group turned and left, at that point, I went to my kick boxing class. That was about 15 years ago, they don't approach the house anymore.

Sending thoughts and prayers

Firstly if those Nazi right-wing religious nut types wish us Athiests would just die...well in my opinion we should not drop dead....

Secondly I don't care who prays for me, blesses me, wishes me well with all manor of godly good intent, recites a Novena, or lights a candle for me.
.....I simply just think they are literally wasting my time and theirs.

I draw the line at annointing by oil..

I agree. I hate it when they tell me they are praying for me. I always say, thanks for thinking of me but praying is unnecessary.

I don't believe in any gods so if someone says something like "bless you, have a blessed day", or something like that, why would I be offended it's not my problem that they believe in something that has no evidence. I'm eat mostly vegan food and people say stupid stuff all the time, based upon their ignorance, you can't get enough protein on a vegan diet! It's a statement from ignorance, should I get mad when someone doesn't know something I do? There's a myriad of things that I can't expect others to know. I say all that to say, context is key. If they are saying it to make you feel less than them, then you should strike back verbally. If someone says "I'll pray for you", because they know you don't believe. Respond back with "I'll appeal to science for you." Or have fun with it, "I'll leave cookies for Santa for you."

Personally I'm fed up with the media telling us what is too far, or what is not far enough. We can't think for ourselves anymore.

And I disagree... I don't think empathy has gone too far at all. In fact there's not enough empathy. Parts of America are a shit hole because of a culture devoid of empathy.

It sounds like the Atlantic has conflated empathy with acquiescence to fascism, which is disingenuous to say the least.

You're mild...when they say, I'll pray for you, I say I'll think for them. Their delusion kinda disgusts me...

I live in the “Confederate South” of Florida. There are plenty of religious greetings here. I don’t pay them any mind. Unless they’re pushing a racist agenda, it’s live and let live for me.

People who have an insecure need to push their religious beliefs out ahead of themselves like a spiked shield, are deniing your identity by throwing this block between you and them. They are not equipped to deal with you on your terms so they make it about religion. They don't want to know who you are, They want it to be about them. I try to stay as far away from these types as I can because the are such an energy black hole. Don't involve me in your delusions.

Why take offense? Let go of the hatred and negativity and just let it roll of your back.Don't get mad at well-wishers. There are real issues out there worth getting angry and upset about (like the Nazis, they gotta go).

You are part of a club. I feel the same way but am learning how to be a bit more diplomatic about my protests.

A lot of that is just throw-away stuff. Like "have a nice day". It's just a habit some people have developed. Some have intent and some don't. Some are trying to convince THEMSELVES that they're "good" or perhaps give others the impression that they're "good". No relation to reality.

Around here, "bless your heart" is a put down. Code for, "you're an idiot and there's no help for you except perhaps from a higher power". It can be a useful phrase. On the surface it sounds nice, but it's not.

You Atheist, from here

For me it always depends on the context. I find it annoying/tacky 100% of the time to hear religious terms used to supposedly bless me, but a small percentage of them really make me angry. If they’re just trying to be a sweet person that’s fine. If they’re being particularly snotty/sarcastic, eg some observational judgement or trying to get me to come to church by saying some ignorant line like "nobody’s perfect” that’s when I’ll take offense. Anything short of that n it’s no big deal to me, they mean well. As long as you’re not being a passive aggressive judgy biotch about it you can wish me blessings from all sorts of imaginary shit, why not. Couldn’t hurt lol. Couldn’t help either but it’s the thought that counts ?‍

Your choice to take offense. I prefer having some good comebacks to their silliness ...

As for the others - well, no empathy for the nutcases.

Praying for me.... "Hey great ! Got any money ?"
It's only people who don't know me that would say they're praying for me, so they get whatever I feel like saying. It can range from nothing to a firm but smiling
"Fuck off". But I'm not agnostic concerning religions.
.
And generally, yes, I do think there are ideologies so damaging to society that they need being gone. It ain't like humans haven't done it before - Thugee ?
You can't kill an idea but you can make it very detrimental to espouse it.
Then double yes, it can be a slippery slope - evolutionarily we're far from coming to terms with the concept.

I think agnostic assertiveness is fine and perhaps varies from person to person depending on personalities. I have a little bit of rebellious activism in me and so I like to create awareness to those folks that not everyone is religious. Thereby equalizing the comments I get and hopefully getting people to say what they really mean, or thinking of what they can do or say to make my day more "blessed" through their own actions, not via some supernatural force. A smile, a nice gesture, a kind word means so much more to me than an empty prayer.

When the religious folks say to me that they'll pray for me or bless me, I usually say, 'Oh no, that's ok. I'm good.' Love their perplexed expressions.