My girlfriend just sent me this
site that sells T-Shirts. It primarily has a lot of stuff on evolution, which is cool, and pro-atheism stuff, with many of the proselytizing slogans found on England's buses. It still amazes me how much at least a particular new breed of atheists are actually not willing to think, are stuck in their own (outdated 18th-century Enlightenment) worldview, and not willing to dialogue with others just like their fundamentalist counterparts on the right (I personally find this type of atheism extremely conservative, while other atheists are not this way and free to engage others in an open, not ridiculously confrontational manner). If these are the paragons of "free thinkers," we are in trouble. In the site's defense, they are responding to the far religious right, but, in doing so, they have to be careful that they do not replicate the religious right's tactics of failing to recognize everything in between--such as liberal religious folk who believe in evolution and, frankly, find some of these things to be a bit conservative themselves. The dichotomization, which creates an apocalyptic worldview, is itself a conservative maneuver, making these so-called "liberals" into atheistic fundamentalists.
Nonetheless, there are some really interesting shirts here as well--a little something for everyone with a sense of humor. Like...Jesus is more goth than you!
I personally find Vampires fascinating (although I am not Goth), but if you are not the Goth type or do not find this an interesting phenomenon, you might like the following:
Come on! How can you not like this T-shirt? Pizza at the last supper instead of just bread and wine has to be an upgrade! Everyone likes some type of pizza, and bread and wine can just get a bit bland after a while.
So here's to the dark, gothic Jesus who likes a hot, crispy crust with some pepperoni.
6 comments:
I truly believe that agnosticism is truth :)! And the only thing that keeps one from "falling off the log" (as one of my mentor professors used to say) is being a part of the community of agnostics! That keeps agnostics from being atheists, as agnostics, while basing their faith on reason, still choose to commit to 'church', the community of atheists :)...those who know they don't know, but know something...have something to share and yet, are still journeying toward something, but they do not know what....
I've found the "new atheist" thing (Dawkins, Hitchens, et al.) exceedingly boring. It reminds me of when I was a 17-year-old atheist going to Catholic School in Utah, but I had an excuse in my age and context to act as a brat. They seem to be completely ignorant of any non-fundamentalist form of any religion. The "debate" seems to limit itself to shouting matches between these guys and fundamentalists about whether or not there were dinosaurs on Noah's ark.
I once came upon a Catholic website called "My religion is more Goth than yours." Ulfilas might disagree, but the guy has a point. My wife and I both enjoy listening to darkwave music and going to Mass.
Yes, there is something adolescent to it all, isn't there? Both extremes have some sort of arrested development.
Anyway, I have read a lot of Anne Rice novels (before she started to write about Jesus), and always found the mix of vampires and Catholic imagery interesting. Although this might be a little too pop for your tastes. ;)
My wife really likes Anne Rice. She had me read "Blood and Gold," and although I find her prose none too exciting, the world and characters she creates are great.
I liked the first two books the best: Interview with a Vampire and The Vampire Lestat. After that, she sort of becomes repetitive. But, Memnoch the Devil has some additional interest since it brings in ancient and medieval conceptions of heaven and hell.
The shirts are great. I love the reaction I get from wearing messages like these. Some people approach me and want to talk about it. Others just laugh. Sometimes someone wants to have a serious discussion, and I love that too. I've found many a good friend and livened up more than a few boring parties with outrageous Tshirts.
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