You know, most of us go about our daily lives not looking for any potential hidden meanings in the random pleasantries uttered to us by the strangers we encounter on any given day at places like gas stations, the drug store, work, the grocery store, etc.
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“Hope you’re doing well,” we may hear. “Good morning” is another thing often said from one person to the next as we go about our normal routines.
“Have a blessed day” or “Be blessed” or “Bless you” (the latter in response to a sneeze) and other variations on the word “blessed” are also fairly common phrases meant to show goodwill towards your fellow man, especially after a transaction has been conducted, like at the end of a call to customer service or a short but friendly chat between the fast food restaurant clerk and a consumer.
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But for some Very Online Woketivists, the use of the word “blessed” in polite conversation prompts thoughts that the person using it is desirous of some sort of theocracy, which brings us to our next story.
On Friday, Mother Jones magazine editor-in-chief Clara Jeffery took to the Twitter/X machine to share a mini-rant on a recent experience she had flying on Alaska Airlines.
It would seem that a flight attendant wished the passengers a “blessed” night, which in Jeffery’s view meant that Alaska Airlines employee was a… Christian nationalist:
Creeping Christian nationalism alert: @AlaskaAir flight attendant just wished us a “blessed” night as we landed in SFO (!) to groans. Other adjectives that would have sufficed: great, awesome, fabulous, amazing, fantastic…
As my rowmate said, “this ain’t Montgomery, sweetie.”
— Clara Jeffery (@ClaraJeffery) September 28, 2024
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Sigh. This is why we can’t have nice things. Also gotta love the “to groans” part as if anyone other than her was having an internal meltdown.
Later, we learned it was about “respect” – however, the discerning reader will note that obviously for Jeffrey that “respect” doesn’t go both ways:
Eh. It’s a matter of respect for the audience before you. Respecting their space and norms and wishes. Dominant cultures always feel they have a right to enforce their norms and intents. And…way off @AlaskaAir’s brand.
— Clara Jeffery (@ClaraJeffery) September 28, 2024
Reactions were varied but all were of a similar mindset.
“The hilarity of playing the respect card while you’re having a tiff over someone merely wishing good will towards you,” wrote one Twitter user, while another asked, “Have you always been a straight-up prejudiced bigot, and how does that make you feel?”
A self-described “pretty left-leaning guy” also injected some sanity into the argument by noting it was something he said often and that it’s “just a nice thing to say.”
I mean, the thing is here that the use of the word “blessed” in this context (and similar ones) does not always have a Christian meaning behind it. Sometimes people say it just to be cordial. But even if it did, so what? Does anyone really believe that that one flight attendant was doing their little part to advance so-called “Christian nationalism” simply by wishing departing passengers a “blessed” night?
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Further, does anyone believe if Jeffery was on an Emirates flight and a flight attendant said “Assalamu alaikum” that she also would have been fauxfended? It would be quite the opposite, I’m sure. In fact, she’d probably jump on Twitter to demonstrate how “progressive” she was by praising the “beautiful language and culture.”
All of that being said, Jeffery’s rant sort of got turned around on her when it was discovered that she herself had been known to display “Christian nationalism” a time or two or three:
This you? https://t.co/xOoQPV5edW pic.twitter.com/W9sRkN03U7
— Amy Curtis 🇮🇱 (@RantyAmyCurtis) September 28, 2024
Whoops.
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