After fighting for a week to get into my CafePress.com online store, I finally managed to upload my latest artwork for a politically in-your-face tshirt.
After hearing and seeing the story about the imams who were tossed off a flight for daring to pray in an airport, and reading about a radio talkshow host who got several of his listeners to bite on a hoax announcement that Muslims were about to be required to wear crescent armbands and get tattoos identifying them as Muslims, I just had to respond.
So I did the usual sending of disgusted email to my congresscritters, and I posted about it at The Daily Kos, but I wanted to do more. Then the old quote about “First they came for the Jews…” hit me and I knew it was time for a rewrite.
I mean, I’m a Pagan, not a Muslim. I don’t agree with Muslim theology about much of anything and I’m sure I would be targeted if I traveled in the Middle East and any of the local lunatics found out about my beliefs. But that’s not the point! I live in America and we’re supposed to honor people’s freedom of (and from) religion.
So if you’re looking for a unique Yule gift for that Muslim, Unitarian, or civil liberties activist on your list, just drop on by my store and snap up a few shirts or coffee mugs (I decided beer steins probably weren’t appropriate).
If people are interested in having me make up some buttons or other items with this theme, let me know.
I like!
If you can change/add an item, either “First they came…” (Pastor Martin Niemöller) or the back design of your United Religions of America Flag #1 would be great on the back of this shirt.
Many children (and only one adult) asked me about the symbols of the religions when I wore the United Religions T-shirt. Kids actually asked me to stand still so they could look at the back.
I could put the flag there, or perhaps just the symbol chart, but give me a few days. I’m on another book deadline.
The symbol chart would be the one that got all the attention, from my experience.
Happy Writing!
Well I’m an excommunicated Unitarian civil liberties activist who is protesting against Unitarian*Universalist aka U*U civil rights violations including, but by no means limited to. . . the false and malicious labeling of the pagan-friendly inter-religious celebration Creation Day as a “cult” by intolerant and outright bigoted “Humanist” Unitarian*Universalists.
Just Google – “Robin Edgar” and Unitarians
for more information or visit The Emerson Avenger blog at –
http://emersonavenger.blogspot.com
Happy International Human Rights Day in any case.
Unfortunately, there is no universal human right to be liked. I have met a number of atheists and secular humanists outside the UUA who struck me as being fundamentalists in the religion of Scientism. You can’t change fundamentalists, however, they always have to change themselves from within — and they find attempts to change them as rude as others may find their fundamentalism.
I will say that the UUs I know down here in the USA have always been extremely tolerent — even the atheists. You may have one of those rare 90% agnostic congregations. There were a lot of them founded in the 1930s.
I am not sure what the percentage is but it does seem that Canadian U*U “churches” are more dominated by the “Humanist” faction than U.S. ones. In reality it doesn’t matter if most of the members are moderates if they allow the fundamentalist atheists to get away with such intolerance and bigotry.
Saw you added the back to the shirts. Looks good!
Glad you like them! I sent a note to CAIR about them. Don’t know if the Muslims will buy them, but they might!
Web(s) or strand(s)…
How about the civic and liberties groups CAIR works in close cooperation with, as well as National Council of Churches (they formed a partnership with them)? What of chapters (of any in that extended network/web) in colleges?
I casually tested a small group and found that even most college educated individuals missed the “First They Came” reference! They were lucky to mention “flying while Muslim.” Had to think.
Also, what of sending out invites for various people from these groups to let you know of any photos of them wearing the tops?
I’ve really given very little thought to promoting these shirts, or any of them really. I’ve never been very good at self-promo, mostly because I’m always working on the next great project. I’m going to work on promo stuff this January.
Mmmm. Don’t mean to frustrate you. I do treasure your tremendous focus and the work that results. I don’t know how you do it all.
These items with their message strike such a chord with me because of what’s going on in America today, yes, but also because my mother grew up in Nazi Germany. Could only start talking about it now in her 70’s and … shirts like these could open such valuable dialogue between so many different groups and individuals.
A few thoughts on opening dialogue here (written while wearing the hoodie version of your new item, and it’s nice).