You think you're offended easily? My skin is WAY more thin than your skin!

[sysoprock]

So earlier this week I read a post from a DU'er who went to Starbucks and was outraged that there was a quote from a Christian Author on the side of the cup. A Starbucks boycott was a brewing.

Today I read a post from a DU'er who was aghast from an MCI employee telling her to "Have a Blessed Day" when they ended the call.

You guys have NOTHING on me.

On my way to work today, I was stuck behind a mini-van that had one of those Jesus fish on it. I immediately called my job and let them know that I would not be coming in today.

Next I pulled off the side of the road and parked my car. I got out and walked back to my apartment.

I WILL NOT use public roadspace paid for by my hard earned taxpayer dollars while the government is allowing these religious nuts to put their propaganda all over the back of their vehicle.

There is a separation of church and state, and the road is the states property. Symbols of religion DO NOT belong on state property. If it were private property I would be able to speed and drink a beer on my way to the office. If I can't speed and drink a beer in my car, stupid fundies should not be allowed to put Jesus fish on their car.

[meganmonkey]

1. Ha ha ha ha ha!!!!

:popcorn:

I gotta sign off, but I can't wait to see what this thread looks like in a few hours!!!

[OldLeftieLawyer]

2. Amen, brother (or sister, as the case may be)

Wait ..............

[Just Me]

19. Gawd, I love that cat!!!!

:7

[OldLeftieLawyer]

56. I know

I have an irrational devotion to him myself .............

[Sanity Claws]

28. He's back!

I missed that cat. Did his liver heal?

[OldLeftieLawyer]

54. He donated it to a freeper

The pussycat's generous that way.

He wasn't using it, anyway..............

[deadparrot]

3. LOL.

:)

[katty]

4. I see that Jesus fish all the time-and "Jesus is Lord" BSticker(BS)

[meganmonkey]

11. I saw a fish thing once with the words "N' Chips" written in it

[SheWhoMustBeObeyed]

20. Yoink!

Thanks for the image. :rofl:

[sufrommich]

62. Oh please tell me

where to buy one of those.

[GliderGuider]

83. They're from evolvefish.com

My favourite is the the IXNAY fish:



I have a Darwin Fish on one side of my license plate, and the IXNAY fish on the other. Thank FSM I don't live in the Babble Belt...

Check out http://www.evolvefish.com/fish/emblems.html

[Kenroy]

5. LOL

that's funny!

Oh wait... I was thinking of something else.

[Bluebear]

6. OK...

[beam me up scottie]

33. That was my reaction too.

:eyes:

[wryter2000]

7. How offensive

How could you hurt my feelings by claiming you're more thin skinned than I am? You don't even know me!!! :cry:

[matcom]

8. okay. your a freak

hope you don't get towed :D

[johnnie]

9. Lol

:thumbsup:

[TheCowsCameHome]

10. I feel your pain. Besides, that fish was probably under the legal size,

and should have been thrown back.

You've had a tough day, Buckaroo.

[CatBoreal]

12. I just draw legs on them....

when I see the Jesus fish in parking lots.

These cars tend to be pretty dusty for some reason.

[timber84]

13. i'm confused

:dunce:

[CatBoreal]

15. This is a Jesus Fish...

This is a Jesus Fish after reading Origin of the Species...

[timber84]

16. No I know what that is,,, is the poster being sarcastic?

[Der Blaue Engel]

32. The OP forgot this:

:sarcasm:

And frankly, that offends me so much that I may leave DU!



...




:sarcasm:

:D

[timber84]

36. no not over that

[KansDem]

23. Or how about the T-Rex eating the "truth" fish eating the Darwin fish?

http://www.holyobserver.com/detail.php?isu=v01i11&art=darwin

[ThumperDumper]

67. Damn...

I GOTTA get me one of THOSE! : )

-JJ

http://jaundicejames.blogspot.com/

[lectrobyte]

25. Jesus Fish? I thought it was a symbol for "vulva", those Swedish cars or

something...

[TalkingDog]

103. From the Vesica Pisces: Which is related to the womb and the vulva.

I love telling fundies that tidy little factoid.

It started out as a section of the intersection of two circles. So the "tail" would be on both ends. And in sacred geometry it represents the joining of two circles or two perfect beings. (the circle representing a god or goddess) And out of that comes an offspring.

So when you see those little fishies...just smile to yourself knowing that you are looking at a heathen vulva on the back of a fundies car.

[Journeyman]

14. Stand for the Right, Sysoprock, or what's Left of sanity. . .

don't let those who use their freedom influence your freedom to get morally outraged at the inconsequential. . . I'm behind ya, buddy (because that's probably the safest spot at the moment). . .

[beam me up scottie]

88. Acting like the right is more like it.

That's pretty much the same reichwing e-mail that has been making the rounds- yet again, amongst the conservatives.

Liberals are too PC, in other words.

Yeah, I got it the first time.

[sysoprock]

90. Like I said the first time.

If you are going to make the claim that I copied that from some rightwing email why don't you post it so we can see where you are drawing these comparisons?

"You disagree with me so you're a closet Republican" is just a hair away from "You disagree with me so you hate America"

P.S. Republicans must really be on top of DU if you read about the MCI thread from today in an email from last week.

[beam me up scottie]

94. Did I say that?

ps: red herrings stink.

[ThoughtCriminal]

17. Apollo 8 story

Many years ago, I read a story (no idea if it has any truth) about a Japanese reporter covering the Apollo 8 mission. He called the NASA public affairs office and explained that he was back at his hotel, but needed a transcript of the crew's Christmas message before deadline.

After being told to check the drawer under the telephone, he marveled at the efficiency of NASA's press office.

[TallahasseeGrannie]

18. And have you ever noticed

how telephone poles look like crosses? Geez


Seriously, I wonder how many folks who put the fish on their car have any idea what the heck it means, or how it came to mean it?

It's an interesting story I used to teach when I taught art history.

[crispini]

21. LOL! Recommended.

Nice satire.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

22. But seriously,

I will not do business at any place that uses the fish on its advertising. I think it's really tacky - and I'd think the same thing if they used any other religious symbol to make money...just other religions tend to actually revere their religious symbols, so it's not much of an issue.

But then there's:











And then there's always the Flying Spaghetti Monster:

[MADem]

24. Here is the most unusual use of the fish that I have ever seen

[wryter2000]

26. FSM

I love that FSM sticker.

[progressivebydesign]

27. The MCI person said: I PRAY FOR YOU TO HAVE A BLESSED DAY.

Sorry.. I was one of the ones that found it totally inappropriate for a BUSINESS call. There's a huge difference. YOu're trying to nail liberals with your post.. interesting.

The point is that it was a business call. And in a business you're expected to stay NEUTRAL.

I didn't find your ridiculous post funny at all. It was insulting and sounded like something a rightwinger would email around.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

30. Some of us can laugh at ourselves.

[sysoprock]

34. "YOu're trying to nail liberals with your post.. interesting."

There's a huge difference between liberals and people who ridiculously feign outrage at things the average person would find completely unoffensive in order to garner attention to themselves.

Also, most of the liberals who have replied got a laugh out of it, I better put them on my secret right wing mailing list.

[IronLionZion]

58. Yeah

that pesky first amendment is obviously violating your freedom.

For some reason, our founding fathers neglected to include the right to not be offended into the US Constitution. But they certainly DID include the right to freedom of speech.

Take this frivolous case to court and the ACLU will back the MCI employee every time.


Oh, and your outrage offends me, as this is a public forum and how dare you express your personal beliefs where I can read them? You should be NEUTRAL!!! I'm reporting you to Alberto Gonzales in violation of Patriot Act section 80808080.
:silly:

This post may offend you. In that case, call 1-800-Get-A-Life

cheers mate :toast:

[BeTheChange]

77. Whoa whoa whoa...not all liberals were offended by the comment

I missed the rule that to be liberal one had to disapprove of all things related to religion and the expression thereof.

For the record, to the OP.. thanks for the levity.

[Arugula Latte]

91. I think the MCI person was unprofessional.

Is it the biggest deal in the world? No. But still, the point is, keep your freakin' religion to yourself and don't impose it on the rest of us. I think that's a valid point. It's just one example of a larger problem which is a serious problem, the presumption of many in this society that everyone is religious and everyone prays, etc.

Again, it's not a huge deal, but it's bigger than you think.

[Straight Shooter]

95. Hear, hear! I agree 100 percent.

I'm getting really sick of religion these last few years, and before bush it never bothered me at all. It's as if they're using their religiosity as a weapon. Passive aggressive confrontation.

[Dorian Gray]

107. It may be annoying...

or cause for pause. But, it's not illegal, nor should it be. If MCI gets lots of complaints about that activity, they will take action. But, it's not company policy, and it's illegal to hire and fire according to religious beliefs.

As for the satire of the OP, it's funny. It's also true. People do have thin skins. I don't foist my beliefs on anybody else. I will explain my beliefs in a conversation where I believe they are pertinent. I wish everyone was like that, but they're not. I would prefer that everyone was polite, but they are not.

[madmom]

29. Driving through a small town in Indiana last week and saw

Ethics Car Repair.. with a jesus fish, I told my SO that I would never go there and was that implying that if you weren't a christian you had no ethics?

[Rufus T. Firefly]

31. Or you have to have your car baptised first.

[LNM]

73. I'm seeing that more and more too

We get fliers in the mail for discounts on auto repairs, etc. and they have the Jesus fish on them. I know what it means, but are they using this to identify themselves to other Christians where non-Christians would not understand what it was?

[beam me up scottie]

92. Down here, they only do business with each other.

Seriously.

They have a "business" club for christians with monthly meetings and they use the fishies to identify "like minded" business owners and customers.

It's not illegal and by labeling each other, they are easier to distinguish from non christians.

White supremacists use the same methods.

[LNM]

97. I suppose in some cases it's justified

If it is a class of people that are persecuted, but with Christians it's scary. I haven't seen this in the north before. I've seen the Jesus symbols on cars but not in their advertising. In our case it backfired. My husband saw a flier from an old classmate. He would usually be inclined to send him some business, but when he saw the fish on the flier he tossed it.
Why would they not want to do business with non-christians? Seems like slitting your throat to me. Unless of course they are bigots.

[tallahasseedem]

102. Welcome to DU Lurker No More!!!!

:hi:

[WritingIsMyReligion]

35. Fuuny, but I think that is a bit

ridiculous. I'd plaster my car with all sorts of anti-religion bumperstickers, so the religious-y ones should be able to plaster their cars, too. The cars themselves are private property.

[alcibiades_mystery]

40. Do greet your customers with anti-religious messages?

If not, then the original poster has to explain the difference. I suspect he or she cannot, and prefers to yuck it up with misrepresentations and half-truths.

[beam me up scottie]

42. I forgot we are guests

in this christian nation.

We should really watch our manners so as not to upset our hosts.

How dare we be offended by exclusionary statements?

[sysoprock]

44. Theres a huge flaw in that argument.

In the MCI situation the operator wasn't trying to put down anyone elses religion or recruit them into hers, she was ending the call by saying something nice.

What sounds more out of place?

"Thank you for using MCI, have a blessed day!"

or

"Thank you for using MCI, and remember, your God is a complete sham!"

[beam me up scottie]

46. Another popular argument that

my reichwing coworkers use.

They ridicule black people, GLBT people, women, foreigners and non-christians in exactly the same way.

[sysoprock]

48. You are making ZERO sense.

How does not being offended by "I pay you have a blessed day" have ANYTHING AT ALL to do with ridiculing black people, GLBT people, women, foreigners or non-christians?

I would LOVE to see you explain the link between the two.

[beam me up scottie]

85. Bigots mock liberals.

Isn't that what you were doing?

[alcibiades_mystery]

47. How's this

What's wrong with "Have a NICE day," a statement in which you don't (unnecessarily, I might add) identify yourself or force your customer to identify him or herself one way or the other? What the fuck is wrong with "Have a nice day?"

I don't want to hear about your personal beliefs when I'm attending to my bills or buying a yard tractor anymore than I want to hear about a waiter's sex life when I'm ordering the fucking gazpacho. It's irrelevant to the transaction and it's alienating unnecessarily. Leave me out of your evangelism. Go general.

Your car, on the other hand, is your personal property, and you can put what you damn well please on it (though try putting pornographic images on it and see how "tolerant" everybody is). When we are in a business transaction, what you say involves the both of us, especially when I'm the customer, and then you can't say whatever you damn well please. Or, you can, but I'm sure as shit gonna see you standing tall before the Man behind it. Just as I would with our raunchy waiter friend. Believe that.

[sysoprock]

55. What if you sneeze and someone says "bless you?"

Still outraged?

Comparing someone wishing you a nice day as a courtesy at the end of a phone call, and some waiter being rauchy while you are trying to eat is such a stretch I just pulled one of my retinas.

Also your argument is strikingly similar to the righties "I don't care what those gays do as long as I don't know about it, they need to keep their sexuality to themselves!"

[alcibiades_mystery]

60. In both cases

It is inserting the PERSONAL into a situation where it is irrelevant: personal beliefs, personal sexuality, whatever.

Saying "bless you" when you sneeze is obviously different because it is so idiomatic that it has lost all connection to its original religious undertones (unless you believe that demons are escaping during a sneeze). Have a blessed day is not generally idiomatic, and you know it. Talk about a stretch! If it were idiopmatic, you'd never hear anyone wonder about it, just as you never saw a bunch of posts offended at "God bless you" as a response to a sneeze, did you?

Finally, to say it is the same as the righties response to gays is ridiculous. Righties don't want any reference to homosexuality in the public sphere, period. I don't mind religion in the public sphere. Wear a Jesus shirt, pray at your lunch table, cover your car with Jesus fish, whatever. But don't impose your personal beliefs on me when we are in the middle of an unrelated transaction: that goes for religion, politics, sexuality, whatever would mark us this or that. It is unnecessary and serves to alienate.

If I am walking down the street, and some evangelist comes up and tries to give me a mini-bible, I say "No, thanks," and usually smile. This is something utterly different than being forced to listen to evangelism when I'm trying to get my car repaired. You're taking a non-specific relation and making it far too specific. I just wanna know about my fucking car, get it?

[the_spectator]

72. "Have a NICE day" is ALSO exclusionary and insensitive:

it offends members of the goth community!

[alcibiades_mystery]

75. Are there that few straws at the bottom of that barrel?

n/t

[the_spectator]

104. "Straws at the bottom of that barrel"???

I don't know what you're trying to say, but if I did, I'd guess it would be time for a Mangled Cliche Alert!

(Last straw? Barrel full of monkeys? Bottom of the barrel? Or is the barrel supposed to be of beer or wine or something, and you're implying I'm drunk, and asking if there are any straws for others to help me drink what's left??? Give me something to work with here!)

[BeTheChange]

79. and what is wrong with simply saying nothing and hanging up?

if you dont agree? Did it really hurt you? I mean, come on... did someone saying that they pray you have a blessed day really cause you harm, emotional distress? If you dont agree with it, why cant you just blow it off?

Seems silly to brood on it to me.

[alcibiades_mystery]

81. Or, perhpas they could act appropriately and it wouldn't have to affect

me at all?

What's wrong with requiring people to behave in a professional manner when they're dealing with customers?

Why should I be forced into even a nanosecond of religious consideration when I'm asking after my long distance service. Is the burden on me to shake it off? Sure, a little bit. But isn't the burden also on the person who can't help but express their personal beliefs on a private matter when they are completely irrelevant? Especially when they are merely acting as the designated contact for an unrelated entity on an unrelated matter? I'm not calling the church to find out when the picnic is, mind you. I'm calling - hypothetically here - a company to find out about a matter related to my business relationship with them. Who is this functionary to insert their beliefs into their function? Sure, I could blow it off (and I usually do, despite my huffing and puffing earlier ;-)), but aren't they responsible for their actions as well, especially since they're initiating the departure from the purpose of the call?

[beam me up scottie]

89. What's wrong with being professional

and remembering that this is not a theocracy and not everybody wants to be "blessed" for completing a business transaction?

"How does it hurt you?" is the same damn argument the christonazis use when they defend putting their god in the pledge and the commandments in the courthouse.

[Phentex]

51. What exactly IS a blessed day

and why should I have one?

Seriously, what does the phrase mean to you?

[prodigal_green]

59. but if I'm a Satanist

is it appropriate for me to tell my customers to go to hell?

That's would be a nice thing for me to say from my religion's point of view.

[progressoid]

74. Ha! that one made me giggle!

[BeTheChange]

78. Also..

Judging by the tone of the original story and the point of repeated dealings to get to that point.. Id really have been curious as to how the customer in question interacted with the customer service rep. The rep might have just been trying their best to diffuse the situation.

Obviously I wasnt part of the conversation, but this isnt a Mormon knocking on your door at 8am on a Saturday.

[alcibiades_mystery]

82. It's pretty damn close

n/t

[Arugula Latte]

93. You're presenting a false choice.

Again, they should say "Have a nice day" or words to that effect. Not make a mention of religion either way.

Obviously!!

[WritingIsMyReligion]

57. If I had customers

I wouldn't say anything at all, only, "Have a nice day." Though "Thank science!" has a good ring to it.

Maybe I should go around school saying that... :D :D :D

Yes, I think I will.

[alcibiades_mystery]

37. Hardy har

Nice way to deflect and misrepresent the argument though. Kudos on that.

[MuseRider]

38. Surely

this does not mean I have to remove my Flying Spaghetti Monster? I had an Evolve Fish once now replaced by my FSM. So far so good, I have had it almost a week and no one has tampered with it.

Edit for left out word

[Der Blaue Engel]

39. I was in a comedy troupe called The Jesus Fisheads in high school

It was Christian comedy. :blush:

[elehhhhna]

52. I belonged to an improv group in Chicago called "Free Beer".

(God Bless Don DePollo for naming us)

Put THAT on the marquee and BOY do you get a crowd!

PS I am in NO WAY Promoting Improv as a form of entertainment. IMO it sucks hard unless you're DOING it, never watching it.

[Inland]

41. Hmm..this looks like a doomed boycott to me.....

After all, getting your ass off the road makes atheists, chrisitans, government and other happy.

Unlike doing without Starbucks because you don't care for their cups, which you can do if you are offended or not, for whatever reason, as Starbucks is trying to get you to buy the cups.

Just saying.

[stevedeshazer]

43. I think this guy should be banned from the roadways, too

[Theres-a]

50. ROFL!

[Mr_Spock]

66. LOL - you might be a redneck if...

:D

[beam me up scottie]

45. Did you steal this from a right wing email that's going around?

Because it sounds exactly like the one I received last week ridiculing the liberals for being "PC"...

[nashville_brook]

70. i got that one too

[sysoprock]

71. Why don't you post that email here so we can see how similar it is?

Or are you just using the Free Republic tactic of accusing me of being an outsider because I called bullshit on something you agree with?

[BeTheChange]

80. Plus, you dont have 10000 posts..

dont forget, you arent a true dem unless you eat, breath and live your post count ;)

[beam me up scottie]

87. .

:nopity:

[beam me up scottie]

86. Because I delete reichwing trash instead of changing a few words

and posting it on a liberal progressive political forum.

You're shocked, I'm sure.

[Zynx]

49. That's very extreme.

That's like saying that I can't wear a cross when I walk into a public park. Also, since political messages, at least in theory, are not supposed to be on government property, we would have to ban almost all bumper stickers.

[In_The_Wind]

53. The only good fish ...

is still swimming around ...
or is on somebody's supper table ...

[sufrommich]

61. Classic post

I'm always amazed at how witty some on this board are.
(well,jealous really)

[Mr_Spock]

64. I double amazed...

that at least a few may have missed the wit?

[sufrommich]

68. yep n/t

[Mr_Spock]

63. Very good.

I like your sense of humor :D

[Balbus]

65. Outstanding post!!

:toast:

[Extend a Hand]

69. my husband wants

to start a business making magnetic feet that can be afixed below those fish ;)

[ronnykmarshall]

76. You win!

[donheld]

84. Sorry I cannot read your post

As long as Skinner and DU allow posts of "have and blessed day" and other such bible beating posts, I will not be reading DU. :evilgrin:

[sufrommich]

96. sigh...

anyways,thanks for the laugh.

[dalaigh lllama]

98. Oh, yeah? Well, MY skin is thinner than YOUR skin

[Festivito]

99. Have you seen those personalized license plates?!!!

Paraded around on government underwritten roads?

I can't even tell you what was printed on it because the Internet also has government paid-for conduit, and it would be WRONG to send those words back and forth across it.

I've seen it around here on occassion and I may have to leave the Internet, DU and all.. it's so upsetting.

[QC]

100. Today at work I sneezed and a colleague said, "Bless you."

Of course I vomited with rage!

[Fescue4u]

101. LMAO!

Thats funny as hell

(OOPS! i invoked a religous referenced. I hope no one sees it on a public library computer!)

[Bridget Burke]

105. Why do DU'ers insist on using "Fitzmas"?

Everybody knows what "mas" stands for!

[PerpetuallyDazed]

106. teehee... so true!

I love your post. It made me happy.

You have a blessed day, too. =)

[Zenlitened]

108. That's true. Internet discussion boards should never be used...

... to try to effect change. Or shed light on larger societal trends by citing personal anecdotes. Or share individual points of view with others.

That sort of thing is just wrong. Besides, atheists should just shut up and take it. They were asking for trouble anyway, the way they were dressed.