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Bumper stickers a bad idea?

Hey everybody, I'd like to get your opinion on this.

I'm in South Carolina and I proudly drive around with atheist signs put up in the back window of my car. I rotate them out based on whatever mood I'm. Sometimes I'll have stuff like "Blasphemy is a victimless crime", "You don't need god to be moral", "Imagine no religion" (with the twin towers), or even a copy of the "There's probably no god, so stop worrying and enjoy your life". Now I've been doing this ever since I left religion almost 5 years ago. (Most of the time I was in Jerry Falwell's HQ of Lynchburg, so moving down to SC wasn't too big of a change)

In all that time I've only had a couple of people honk at me to give me the finger, and a handful of religious tracts left on my windshield. Yeah, I get nervous sometimes but it's a bit of a rush and I have yet to have anything thrown (or shot) at me. However, there are some people, namely my parents, who are constantly upset about this. They're not religious, but they're afraid I'll get physically hurt or the car will be keyed by someone who is offended. I understand their concern, but the way I look at it: the fact that this is even a possibility is all the more reason I need to speak up and make my existence known. They'd prefer I just stay quiet and blend in, ignoring the fact that just about every car down here has a Jesus fish on it, you can't throw a stone in any direction without hitting a church, and politicians go out of their way to out Jesus each-other. I feel staying quiet doesn't help anything. I'm a citizen and I have the right to express my opinion. To not exercise my rights out of fear of reprisal is just plain wrong. Am I out of line on this?

Tags: Carolina, South, bumper, car, stickers, violence

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Permalink Reply by Ryan on June 30, 2010 at 2:07pm

I had a Small Darwin fish magnet on the back of my car for about a month and a half. I live in the Midwest so there are religious lunatics in all directions and I didn't have any problems with vandalism. However I would occasionally get dirty looks from xians, but I would just speed up and cut them off showing them what assholes us Atheists are.
I had to take it off when I my mother finally noticed it. She just said "do you even know what that means?" and I told her I did and told her what it really does mean, which is probably different from her definition. She said "this is not what our family represents." I then tried to defend myself with logic but she wouldn't listen and told me if I were to buy another one then she would take my damn car away.... She probably wouldn't take it away but i don't want to risk loosing my car I need it I don't live close enough to school or work to walk or ride a bike. I have a large Darwin fish and a Large Science Fish that looks like a spaceship but I don't want to get yelled at again so I have not put them on.

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Permalink Reply by Andrey on June 30, 2010 at 2:50pm

Huh, and these people call themselves "holy".

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Permalink Reply by mojo5501 on June 30, 2010 at 7:23pm

I am a fan of the bumper sticker, myself. The more clever or humorous, the better. And we atheists certainly have a lot of catching up to do when it comes to voicing our opinions compared to the religious 'opinions' I see plastered everywhere.

I highly recommend the magnetic backings for stickers offered by sites like evolvefish.com. Personally, I have the 'car emblem' {sounds more high class than 'bumper sticker', doesn't it??} that reads:

What schools need is a moment of SCIENCE.

That's as atheist as I get on my vehicle...supporting separation of Church and State. There are some great atheist selections at the website, however, depending on how vocal you want to be. Check it out if you're not familiar with it! Some are probably just vague enough to be 'inside jokes'.

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Permalink Reply by Brandin Ian MacDougall on June 30, 2010 at 7:30pm

Good for you, I recommend yo ukeep it up, show the world how ignorant religion is. A couple dents in your car might show how ignorant religious people are you use words they use violence. It could make a good point and you could bring the story to the media if somebody damaged your veichle.