Bless you?

Okay, I know this pertains not to the past blogs in this class, but a conversation about sneezing came up recently and I felt the need to bring it up here.
Does it intrigue any one else that we seem to have maintained this custom of blessing people after they sneeze? I understand the polite factor of the "excuse me," "bless you," "thank you" routine, but why use words with religious connotations?? Do we actually have the power to bless people?
All sarcasm and irreverent humor aside, snopes has some things to say about this topic:
www.snopes.com/language/phrases/blessyou.htm

Additionally, I was perusing the web and found this entertaining, short article:
www.truedorktimes.com/0101/TDdemon.htm
There were no dates so I do not know if this is true or still on the books...anybody know? Or is that just a really dumb question...