Not in the original topic. Not what the OP asked. Any words, said in the wrong context or tone of voice/gestures/body language can be hurtful. This topic was a simple, acquaintance going thru hardship/response to pray for them scenario. I think that is pretty clear.
Some people are comforted by the saying. Those who are not can choose to ignore it. We do not all need to be offended all the time by the innocuous.
Feel free to wish me a happy any holiday at all, regardless of whether I observe it. I am glad you do, and will share in your joy of whatever season.
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This right here. I don’t need to know how you practice your religion. I’m not offended by you offering to pray for me, but I’m definitely definitely not comforted or helped by it in any way.
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Religion is a private thing. Those who wear religion on their sleeves and act in a pushy way just push others away from religion.
Religion is my business, not anyone else’s.
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It could be really controversial, like telling someone to have a nice day. Whew. Let us hope we never go there.
Roycroftmom-- I remember being at a gas station and the woman in the car behind me told the attendant “I’m sorry, I’m flustered” when he asked her to pop open the gas cap… and added “I’m on my way to my Mom’s funeral” and he said “Oh, I’m so sorry”.
Transaction ended, the attendant waved heartily and yelled with a big smile “You have a nice day now!”
Force of habit I know…
Interesting topic. I’m Jewish and I don’t appreciate it when my religious Christian friends say it to me. I likely in some instances take it the wrong way but I usually think they mean they are praying to a god Jesus who I don’t believe in and they are also praying for me to see the “light”.
My husband on occasion plays tennis with a guy who is pretty religious. He knows my husband is Jewish yet he keeps my husband on a text message thread where he constantly uses the line Be Blessed and the messages aside from sometimes trying to get a tennis game run very Christian. My husband feels the guy is clueless but I don’t see it that way. He was constantly saying he was praying for a mutual friend who had cancer. The friend was an atheist and didn’t appreciate his prayers.
I think the safer alternative is I’m thinking of you.
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If you told me to “have a nice day” I’d be totally triggered. I mean why are putting that on me? What if I don’t have a nice day? Does that mean I’m a bad person? Or a failure? No, no, no, don’t you ever tell me to have a nice day?
Just kidding… 
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Do you want people yelling “have a nice day” after you have told them you are on their way to your mom’s funeral?
I was not replying to that situation. Swing and a miss.
You gotta laugh. I know some companies require a greeting at the beginning of a customer interaction, and some sort of conclusion. Nobody’s fault…
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That sounds like a Seinfeld bit.
Not original, but I can’t recall where I head it. George Carlin?
I was signing out at the dermatologist a few years back and the staff was calling a patient to explain that the thing on his arm was cancer but luckily the “good” kind of cancer. So he should make an appointment to come in and get it removed. She ended with a chirpy, “Have a nice day!” I politely suggested they might consider a different sign off for those kind of calls. Because although it certainly could have been a worse day for the patient, it surely wasn’t a nice day.
Yes, George Carlin:
I think you’re right. Google ‘George Carlin have a nice day’ and the 5th result is the lyrics/text of his bit. If I post the link, with his language, someone might need to pray for me.
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No , of course not. But, he did initially say how sorry he was. All of us have probably said something stupid . And later regretted it. For all we know, he realized he should not have said to have a nice day before she even got out of the gas station.
Sometimes people from a non-Christian background are more attuned to religious nuances due to a long history of unwanted proselytizing and conversion attempts by those in a majority religion.
Just saying.
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I think that is probably true. I usually just say happy holidays, keep things in general non religious, but even with that , you just don’t know what people prefer or even what they celebrate. Sometimes, even with the best intentions, we just don’t always get what we say right. My H has a very common German last name. Many with his last name are Jewish, but very many are also not. He is not Jewish but has had people wish him Happy Hanukkah on more than a few occasions over the years.
I assumed that “Have a nice day” was short for “I hope you have a nice day,” as opposed to a command to have a nice day, but maybe I have just been taking it wrong all these years? It is definitely true that some days are not nice, no matter how much hoping or commanding we do… 
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“I’ll pray for you” can sound like something about sinful you needs fixing.
“I’ll keep you in my prayers” sounds different. More caring.
But I admit, I accept all good wishes, prayers or not, to the universe, or some deity as an expression of kindness. Who knows? Even if it wasn’t meant that way, perhaps having seen it as such will make it so.
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Those who are Christian need to remember that many many people in this country are not.
Jewish people, Hindus, Muslims, Buddhists, Baha’i, etc-----freedom of religion means freedom for ALL religions, not just those of the majority.
I cringed every time at a public HS graduation I heard a minister mention Jesus Christ our Savior during an invocation. Those who would say “no big deal” would lose their minds if the invocation mentioned Allah, for example. Heck, some of those same people have told me that I’m not really a “Christian” because I’m Catholic (!)
As I posted earlier, religion is a private matter.
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