Mr. Right-Click: See? See that bumper sticker, and it says “Coexist”?
Me: Yeah.
Mr. Right-Click: And there’s a representation of all these religions?
Me: Yeah.
Mr. Right-Click:–but there’s no atheist symbol! They don’t consider atheists!
Me: That’s because atheists don’t want to coexist with people.
Mr. Right-Click:–Aww, OK, fine, but you know what–
Me: Listen, I’m just saying: some of the most militant believers out there, are non-believers. They believe–very strongly–that there’s nothing in which to believe.
Mr. Right-Click: And we, atheists or anti-theists, are what we should be called, we are always left out of this stuff.
Me: And yet you pride yourselves on proselytizing and trying to force your beliefs on people just as much as the next religion!
Mr. Right-Click: That’s right. We try to spread the word.
Me: The word of not having a word.
Mr. Right-Click: Plus, there’s really not a symbol for anti-theism that can fit onto a bumper sticker.
Me: I’ve got your symbol for anti-theism right here [flips middle finger]
Mr. Right Click: . . .
Mini: Here! [Points finger skywards] Here! Here!
Me: Nonono, Mini, don’t listen to Mommy. Don’t do what Mommy does.
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{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
Oh, if only I had a dime for every time I said “Don’t do what Mommy does” to my kids!
That’s so funny. When I was an atheist I considered those bumper stickers to be written *by* us atheists *for* the various believers, i.e. “Would you fools please stop killing each other in the name of your crazy fairy tales? Thanks.”
And yeah, if I only had a nickle for every time I said, “Don’t do what mommy does.”
Have you seen the atheist symbol? It’s dumb. It’s like a little atomic symbol. I think it’s supposed to make you think that atheists want to nuke somebody (which is ironic, but whatever).
I have found that converted atheists (i.e. the ones who were raised with some sort of religion) are WAY WAY more militant than raised atheists (those who were raised by heathens).
I’ve never seen an atheist symbol, no! That is really stupid. I think a flipping-off finger is way better.
There’s a great little book titled “The right to be wrong” by Kevin Seamus Hasson that deals with expressions of religion in the commons that I found really illuminating.
That said, yeah, “THERE IS NO GOD!” and “BELIEVE!” both lead to gagging when they are crammed down one’s throat.
I have that bumper sticker and a t-shirt with the saying on it. My offenders have said that it means “signs and symbols of a conscious mind”, but ya know they are offenders and they could just be b.s.ing. I still like them!
My kids usually do what Mommy & Daddy do, but it’s at a family function with an audience who then get to tell us how we shouldn’t do those things because “the kids always see”. I was also in the same camp as Jennifer (conversion diary). And the “nuke symbol” that is stupid, plus I’m pretty sure it’s already taken by the militia groups out there who would nuke the world if they had a chance.
I like to use this symbol for my own religious beliefs:
?
It gets the point across.
I was unprepared for the mimicking. Which is why Charlie knows how to correctly use the word “crap.” And will probably also know “asshole” before much longer.
Hey, there’s no hindu symbol either… and there’s only about a billion of us worldwide. Always get the shaft!!
Hey, good point! Naturally, I didn’t even think of it, which makes your point even more salient.
@Whoever said that converted atheists are more militant… My whole entire family is religious. Yet I don’t want to kill or hurt anybody for their religion. I actually don’t want to kill or hurt anybody at all, which is why I am known as “peacekeeper”. Just saying.
So I actually like this bumper sticker, because it shows how I feel about letting these religions of the world coexist, in peace.
I want to add that religion has started wars, and atheism has not any that I know of. My dad (devout Christian) hates this bumper sticker with the fiery passion of Hell which he believes in because he just wants EVERYBODY to be Christian. Militant much?
‘Me’ in this exchange of words is not a Christain nor of any other religion. note( the figure). Nor is ‘Mr. Right-Click’ an atheist. And what is an ‘Anti-theist’? Atheist and anti-theist are not the same nor even close. A christain could be described as an anti-atheist but an atheist is not an anti-theist. Infact, both ‘Me’ and ‘Mr. Right-Click’ are the same. Both are idiots.