Wednesday, August 01, 2007

The Scarlet "A"


A new movement is afoot. Folks are putting the symbol to the left on blogs, T-shirts, caps and other items to indicate they are atheists. The purpose is to send a message to the politicians, preachers and pundits that atheists are too numerous and important to be messed with.

I'm all for sending that message. It's high time that folks quit demonizing atheists. So, I wish this movement success.

Nevertheless, I won't be sticking the Scarlet "A" on this blog. The label "atheist" is too vague to fully express either my own views or -- I'm fairly sure -- Eryn's views on the subject.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Is it supposed to conjure up Hester Prynne?

Cus I don't see how it can't.

Paul Sunstone said...

I agree: It must be intended to conjure her up, Amuirin. I wonder to what end, though?

marxsny said...

The Scarlet Letter was the first thing I thought of before I even started reading. Seems to imply Atheists are evil or associated with sin. I would think this may defeat their purpose. Perhaps a black A or an image of God? with a red circle and line through it would be the way to go.

The Geezers said...

I wonder about this Atheist movement. It seems to want to debase the religious experience as well as religion, and I'm a bit concerned about this.

I"d suggest maybe the MOnte Python image of the bearded God in the clouds, with a circle and slash through it.

THAT God I could safely ridicule.

Paul Sunstone said...

I hadn't looked at it that way, Mystic. That's a bit disturbing.

While common conceptions of God are, at the very least, problematic, there is more than sufficient evidence to suggest that mystical experiences can be both transformative and beneficial to those who have them.