![\"coexist\"](\"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/05\/coexist.png\" "\\"coexist\\"")
<\/a><\/p>\nWe both thought it was pretty neat — both clever in combining various faith symbols …<\/p>\n
- \n
- The Islamic crescent<\/li>\n
- A Wiccan pentagram (Baha’i also uses a 5-pointed star symbol, some have noted).<\/li>\n
- An atheist\/humanist e=mc^2<\/em> (I realize that atheism is not necessarily the same thing as humanism, and that neither is a religion per se<\/em>, and that e=mc^2<\/em> is more a symbol for science than for either of them — but work with me here; this is trying to cram a lot of symbolism into (a) a fixed set of letters and (b) a bumper sticker.)<\/small><\/li>\n
- The Jewish Star of David<\/li>\n
- A Buddhist wheel of Dharma dotting the i<\/em><\/li>\n
- The Daoist yin-yang<\/li>\n
- The Christian cross<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
… and in its message — can’t we all just get along?<\/em><\/p>\n
Granted, there are elements in some of these beliefs that cannot abide the existence of one or more of the others.\u00a0 But I firmly believe that most adherents, when not whipped up into a frenzy, are more than willing to live and let live — to appreciate what makes others happy, to follow their own traditions and beliefs, and, if in some sort of “competition,” demonstrate the value of what they follow through their actions and perhaps reasoned words.<\/p>\n
I think that’s true of most people.<\/p>\n
I stuck the bumper sticker onto a roll of magnetic backing, and we put it on the van.\u00a0 (We’re not big “believers” in sticking indelible adhesive strips to our vehicles.) And there it was …<\/p>\n
… until a week or two ago, driving behind Margie, I noticed it was missing.\u00a0 Bummer.<\/p>\n
Did it come off in a car wash?\u00a0 Possible, though it’s never happened over the years.\u00a0 Did someone actually steal it (presumably to hide the message, rather than for their very own)?\u00a0 More likely, though it seems like kind of a dickish thing to do.<\/p>\n
This afternoon, I started looking for a replacement.<\/p>\n
Hmmmm … interesting.<\/p>\n
While I can still find this design, there’s another one (which I’ve also seen around) which seems to be much more popular:<\/p>\n
![\"coexist2\"](\"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/05\/coexist2.gif\" "\\"coexist2\\"")
<\/a><\/p>\nI don’t like this one nearly as well, though it covers much of the same ground.\u00a0 But by substituting the Peace sign and making the “e” into a male\/female set of symbols (unclear whether this is meant to be that the genders should coexist or as a symbol for gays or what), the message seems muddied — the commentary on religious conflict\/coexistence is weakened, we lose some of the represented faiths (with either the Wiccans 5-pt star dotting the i<\/em> or in some versions a Baha’i 9-pt star, so we lose atheism\/humanism and Buddhism), and that yin-yang s<\/em> is just ugly.<\/p>\n
Interestingly, there are variations on this:<\/p>\n
- \n
- This one<\/a> (other<\/a> versions exist) turn the e, i,<\/em> and s<\/em> into normal letters, which is fine if you want to focus just on Abrahamic religions (plus a peace sign).<\/li>\n
- This one<\/a> tries a bit too hard, loses some of the Eastern faiths for more pagan ones, and, honestly, wouldn’t be very readable at a distance.<\/li>\n
- This one<\/a> gets credit for including a Hindu Om symbol for the oe<\/em>, save that it’s reversed.<\/li>\n
- Others include substituting an ankh for the i<\/em>, a peace candle<\/a> for the i<\/em>, or extending the word into COEXISTENCE<\/a> <\/em>to allow for more<\/a> symbols.<\/li>\n
- And, of course, there are the variations which spell out PEACE or TOLERANCE<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
There are also a lot of people whom this message absolutely drives up the wall.\u00a0 Many of them think<\/a> it’s<\/a> silly<\/a> to<\/a> try<\/a> to<\/a> coexist<\/a> with Islam (or with anyone else at all, especially all those unwashed, smug, slovenly, liberal 20-year-old puddin’-heads who live in LA or Austin or Portland or Boulder and who put COEXIST bumper stickers on their Priuses and Volvos … just like Margie*). The Freepers think it’s all a wild leftist-commie-fascist<\/a> plot (or that gays and Jews are actually commies and Nazis … or maybe that’s supposed to be a Hindu \/ Buddhist \/ Jain swastika<\/a> … it’s hard to tell with those guys sometimes). Others think it’s the wrong<\/a> message<\/a>, or is better adapted to a message of their<\/a> own<\/a>.<\/p>\n
( *Though to be fair, I do believe Margie is, in fact, liberal. )<\/small><\/p>\n
Aaaaanyway.\u00a0 I was just surprised, as I looked<\/a> for a place to replace her bumper sticker (here<\/a>) how many variations I found — and how insane some folks reacted to it.\u00a0 Which is fairly remarkable for a message that encourages people to get along with each other.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
- This one<\/a> tries a bit too hard, loses some of the Eastern faiths for more pagan ones, and, honestly, wouldn’t be very readable at a distance.<\/li>\n
![This one<\/a> (](\"http:\/\/www.northernsun.com\/images\/imagelarge\/Coexist-Bumper-Sticker-(7167).jpg\"){kind=link}
![other<\/a> versions exist) turn the e, i,<\/em> and s<\/em> into normal letters, which is fine if you want to focus just on Abrahamic religions (plus a peace sign).<\/li>\nThis one<\/a> tries a bit too hard, loses some of the Eastern faiths for more pagan ones, and, honestly, wouldn’t be very readable at a distance.<\/li>\nThis one<\/a> gets credit for including a Hindu Om symbol for the oe<\/em>, save that it’s reversed.<\/li>\nOthers include substituting an ankh for the i<\/em>, a peace candle<\/a> for the i<\/em>, or extending the word into COEXISTENCE<\/a> <\/em>to allow for more<\/a> symbols.<\/li>\nAnd, of course, there are the variations which spell out PEACE or TOLERANCE<\/li>\n<\/ul>\nThere are also a lot of people whom this message absolutely drives up the wall.\u00a0 Many of them think<\/a> it’s<\/a> silly<\/a> to<\/a> try<\/a> to<\/a> coexist<\/a> with Islam (or with anyone else at all, especially all those unwashed, smug, slovenly, liberal 20-year-old puddin’-heads who live in LA or Austin or Portland or Boulder and who put COEXIST bumper stickers on their Priuses and Volvos … just like Margie*). The Freepers think it’s all a wild leftist-commie-fascist<\/a> plot (or that gays and Jews are actually commies and Nazis … or maybe that’s supposed to be a Hindu \/ Buddhist \/ Jain swastika<\/a> … it’s hard to tell with those guys sometimes). Others think it’s the wrong<\/a> message<\/a>, or is better adapted to a message of their<\/a> own<\/a>.<\/p>\n( *Though to be fair, I do believe Margie is, in fact, liberal. )<\/small><\/p>\nAaaaanyway.\u00a0 I was just surprised, as I looked<\/a> for a place to replace her bumper sticker (here<\/a>) how many variations I found — and how insane some folks reacted to it.\u00a0 Which is fairly remarkable for a message that encourages people to get along with each other.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"So about a year ago, Margie came home with this cool bumper sticker that says “COEXIST” on it — with each of the letters representing a different belief \/ tradition. We both thought it was pretty neat — both clever in combining various faith symbols … The Islamic crescent A Wiccan pentagram (Baha’i also uses … Continue reading “COEXIST”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":17426,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[27,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17424","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-religion","category-zt-pc"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/05\/coexist2.gif","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":11277,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2007\/10\/04\/the_most_offensive_bumper.html","url_meta":{"origin":17424,"position":0},"title":"The Most Offensive Bumper Sticker Contest","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 4-Oct-07 11:31pm","format":false,"excerpt":"In discussing this and that this evening, I mentioned to Margie the (to my mind) most offensive bumper sticker (or similar media) I've seen.\u00a0 Christians aren't perfect, just forgiven.Where can...","rel":"","context":"In "Politics & Law"","block_context":{"text":"Politics & Law","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/politics-law"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":20350,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2011\/02\/28\/unblogged-bits-mon-28-feb-11-2231.html","url_meta":{"origin":17424,"position":1},"title":"Unblogged Bits (Mon. 28-Feb-11 2231)","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 28-Feb-11 10:31pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Links (most recent first) that caught my eye, but did not warrant full-blown blog entries .... An Alternative to Coexisting? - To me, the COEXIST bumper sticker doesn't mean a lack of criticism -- especially criticism of behaviors that break down society and the common good. It means that rather\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Potpourri"","block_context":{"text":"Potpourri","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/potpourri"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":11273,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2007\/10\/06\/butts_of_disdain.html","url_meta":{"origin":17424,"position":2},"title":"Butts of disdain","author":"***Dave","date":"Sat 6-Oct-07 9:55am","format":false,"excerpt":"While not a bumper sticker, DOF has managed to find something that offends me almost as much....","rel":"","context":"In "Personal"","block_context":{"text":"Personal","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/personal"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9526,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2006\/06\/15\/yummy_yummy_yum.html","url_meta":{"origin":17424,"position":3},"title":"Yummy, yummy, yummy, I got kids in my tummy!","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 15-Jun-06 9:13am","format":false,"excerpt":"Followed a bumper sticker for a while on the freeway yesterday. In small script, it said something like \"XYZ Schools\" and then, in big type: GR - R - R...","rel":"","context":"In "Potpourri"","block_context":{"text":"Potpourri","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/potpourri"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":24132,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2011\/11\/29\/in-god-we-all-trust-or-else.html","url_meta":{"origin":17424,"position":4},"title":"In God We All Trust, Or Else","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 29-Nov-11 10:38pm","format":false,"excerpt":"The courts have allowed mention of God in official governmental items such as our money and our national motto and the Pledge of Allegiance under the principle of \"ceremonial deism\" -- the idea that it's not really religion, but more of a tribal traditional sort of thing. Which ought to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7201,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2004\/10\/10\/bumper_sticker.html","url_meta":{"origin":17424,"position":5},"title":"Bumper sticker politics","author":"***Dave","date":"Sun 10-Oct-04 1:54pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Obviously folks design things to convey a message, political bumper stickers not least of all. So this analysis of the standard Bush v. Kerry stickers is sort of interesting. Is...","rel":"","context":"In "Elections 2004"","block_context":{"text":"Elections 2004","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/politics-law\/elections-2004"},"img":{"alt_text":"bush_kerry.jpg","src":"\/blog\/images\/bush_kerry.jpg","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17424","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17424"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17424\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17426"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17424"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17424"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17424"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}](\"http:\/\/pointlessbanter.net\/files\/2007\/09\/coexist.jpg\"){kind=link}
![This one<\/a> tries a bit too hard, loses some of the Eastern faiths for more pagan ones, and, honestly, wouldn’t be very readable at a distance.<\/li>\nThis one<\/a> gets credit for including a Hindu Om symbol for the oe<\/em>, save that it’s reversed.<\/li>\nOthers include substituting an ankh for the i<\/em>, a peace candle<\/a> for the i<\/em>, or extending the word into COEXISTENCE<\/a> <\/em>to allow for more<\/a> symbols.<\/li>\nAnd, of course, there are the variations which spell out PEACE or TOLERANCE<\/li>\n<\/ul>\nThere are also a lot of people whom this message absolutely drives up the wall.\u00a0 Many of them think<\/a> it’s<\/a> silly<\/a> to<\/a> try<\/a> to<\/a> coexist<\/a> with Islam (or with anyone else at all, especially all those unwashed, smug, slovenly, liberal 20-year-old puddin’-heads who live in LA or Austin or Portland or Boulder and who put COEXIST bumper stickers on their Priuses and Volvos … just like Margie*). The Freepers think it’s all a wild leftist-commie-fascist<\/a> plot (or that gays and Jews are actually commies and Nazis … or maybe that’s supposed to be a Hindu \/ Buddhist \/ Jain swastika<\/a> … it’s hard to tell with those guys sometimes). Others think it’s the wrong<\/a> message<\/a>, or is better adapted to a message of their<\/a> own<\/a>.<\/p>\n( *Though to be fair, I do believe Margie is, in fact, liberal. )<\/small><\/p>\nAaaaanyway.\u00a0 I was just surprised, as I looked<\/a> for a place to replace her bumper sticker (here<\/a>) how many variations I found — and how insane some folks reacted to it.\u00a0 Which is fairly remarkable for a message that encourages people to get along with each other.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"So about a year ago, Margie came home with this cool bumper sticker that says “COEXIST” on it — with each of the letters representing a different belief \/ tradition. We both thought it was pretty neat — both clever in combining various faith symbols … The Islamic crescent A Wiccan pentagram (Baha’i also uses … Continue reading “COEXIST”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":17426,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[27,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17424","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-religion","category-zt-pc"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/05\/coexist2.gif","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":11277,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2007\/10\/04\/the_most_offensive_bumper.html","url_meta":{"origin":17424,"position":0},"title":"The Most Offensive Bumper Sticker Contest","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 4-Oct-07 11:31pm","format":false,"excerpt":"In discussing this and that this evening, I mentioned to Margie the (to my mind) most offensive bumper sticker (or similar media) I've seen.\u00a0 Christians aren't perfect, just forgiven.Where can...","rel":"","context":"In "Politics & Law"","block_context":{"text":"Politics & Law","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/politics-law"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":20350,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2011\/02\/28\/unblogged-bits-mon-28-feb-11-2231.html","url_meta":{"origin":17424,"position":1},"title":"Unblogged Bits (Mon. 28-Feb-11 2231)","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 28-Feb-11 10:31pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Links (most recent first) that caught my eye, but did not warrant full-blown blog entries .... An Alternative to Coexisting? - To me, the COEXIST bumper sticker doesn't mean a lack of criticism -- especially criticism of behaviors that break down society and the common good. It means that rather\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Potpourri"","block_context":{"text":"Potpourri","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/potpourri"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":11273,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2007\/10\/06\/butts_of_disdain.html","url_meta":{"origin":17424,"position":2},"title":"Butts of disdain","author":"***Dave","date":"Sat 6-Oct-07 9:55am","format":false,"excerpt":"While not a bumper sticker, DOF has managed to find something that offends me almost as much....","rel":"","context":"In "Personal"","block_context":{"text":"Personal","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/personal"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9526,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2006\/06\/15\/yummy_yummy_yum.html","url_meta":{"origin":17424,"position":3},"title":"Yummy, yummy, yummy, I got kids in my tummy!","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 15-Jun-06 9:13am","format":false,"excerpt":"Followed a bumper sticker for a while on the freeway yesterday. In small script, it said something like \"XYZ Schools\" and then, in big type: GR - R - R...","rel":"","context":"In "Potpourri"","block_context":{"text":"Potpourri","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/potpourri"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":24132,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2011\/11\/29\/in-god-we-all-trust-or-else.html","url_meta":{"origin":17424,"position":4},"title":"In God We All Trust, Or Else","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 29-Nov-11 10:38pm","format":false,"excerpt":"The courts have allowed mention of God in official governmental items such as our money and our national motto and the Pledge of Allegiance under the principle of \"ceremonial deism\" -- the idea that it's not really religion, but more of a tribal traditional sort of thing. Which ought to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7201,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2004\/10\/10\/bumper_sticker.html","url_meta":{"origin":17424,"position":5},"title":"Bumper sticker politics","author":"***Dave","date":"Sun 10-Oct-04 1:54pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Obviously folks design things to convey a message, political bumper stickers not least of all. So this analysis of the standard Bush v. Kerry stickers is sort of interesting. Is...","rel":"","context":"In "Elections 2004"","block_context":{"text":"Elections 2004","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/politics-law\/elections-2004"},"img":{"alt_text":"bush_kerry.jpg","src":"\/blog\/images\/bush_kerry.jpg","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17424","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17424"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17424\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17426"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17424"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17424"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17424"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}](\"http:\/\/randomviewpoints.files.wordpress.com\/2008\/05\/coexist1.jpg\"){kind=link}
![This one<\/a> gets credit for including a Hindu Om symbol for the oe<\/em>, save that it’s reversed.<\/li>\nOthers include substituting an ankh for the i<\/em>, a peace candle<\/a> for the i<\/em>, or extending the word into COEXISTENCE<\/a> <\/em>to allow for more<\/a> symbols.<\/li>\nAnd, of course, there are the variations which spell out PEACE or TOLERANCE<\/li>\n<\/ul>\nThere are also a lot of people whom this message absolutely drives up the wall.\u00a0 Many of them think<\/a> it’s<\/a> silly<\/a> to<\/a> try<\/a> to<\/a> coexist<\/a> with Islam (or with anyone else at all, especially all those unwashed, smug, slovenly, liberal 20-year-old puddin’-heads who live in LA or Austin or Portland or Boulder and who put COEXIST bumper stickers on their Priuses and Volvos … just like Margie*). The Freepers think it’s all a wild leftist-commie-fascist<\/a> plot (or that gays and Jews are actually commies and Nazis … or maybe that’s supposed to be a Hindu \/ Buddhist \/ Jain swastika<\/a> … it’s hard to tell with those guys sometimes). Others think it’s the wrong<\/a> message<\/a>, or is better adapted to a message of their<\/a> own<\/a>.<\/p>\n( *Though to be fair, I do believe Margie is, in fact, liberal. )<\/small><\/p>\nAaaaanyway.\u00a0 I was just surprised, as I looked<\/a> for a place to replace her bumper sticker (here<\/a>) how many variations I found — and how insane some folks reacted to it.\u00a0 Which is fairly remarkable for a message that encourages people to get along with each other.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"So about a year ago, Margie came home with this cool bumper sticker that says “COEXIST” on it — with each of the letters representing a different belief \/ tradition. We both thought it was pretty neat — both clever in combining various faith symbols … The Islamic crescent A Wiccan pentagram (Baha’i also uses … Continue reading “COEXIST”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":17426,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[27,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17424","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-religion","category-zt-pc"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/05\/coexist2.gif","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":11277,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2007\/10\/04\/the_most_offensive_bumper.html","url_meta":{"origin":17424,"position":0},"title":"The Most Offensive Bumper Sticker Contest","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 4-Oct-07 11:31pm","format":false,"excerpt":"In discussing this and that this evening, I mentioned to Margie the (to my mind) most offensive bumper sticker (or similar media) I've seen.\u00a0 Christians aren't perfect, just forgiven.Where can...","rel":"","context":"In "Politics & Law"","block_context":{"text":"Politics & Law","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/politics-law"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":20350,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2011\/02\/28\/unblogged-bits-mon-28-feb-11-2231.html","url_meta":{"origin":17424,"position":1},"title":"Unblogged Bits (Mon. 28-Feb-11 2231)","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 28-Feb-11 10:31pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Links (most recent first) that caught my eye, but did not warrant full-blown blog entries .... An Alternative to Coexisting? - To me, the COEXIST bumper sticker doesn't mean a lack of criticism -- especially criticism of behaviors that break down society and the common good. It means that rather\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Potpourri"","block_context":{"text":"Potpourri","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/potpourri"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":11273,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2007\/10\/06\/butts_of_disdain.html","url_meta":{"origin":17424,"position":2},"title":"Butts of disdain","author":"***Dave","date":"Sat 6-Oct-07 9:55am","format":false,"excerpt":"While not a bumper sticker, DOF has managed to find something that offends me almost as much....","rel":"","context":"In "Personal"","block_context":{"text":"Personal","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/personal"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9526,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2006\/06\/15\/yummy_yummy_yum.html","url_meta":{"origin":17424,"position":3},"title":"Yummy, yummy, yummy, I got kids in my tummy!","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 15-Jun-06 9:13am","format":false,"excerpt":"Followed a bumper sticker for a while on the freeway yesterday. In small script, it said something like \"XYZ Schools\" and then, in big type: GR - R - R...","rel":"","context":"In "Potpourri"","block_context":{"text":"Potpourri","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/potpourri"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":24132,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2011\/11\/29\/in-god-we-all-trust-or-else.html","url_meta":{"origin":17424,"position":4},"title":"In God We All Trust, Or Else","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 29-Nov-11 10:38pm","format":false,"excerpt":"The courts have allowed mention of God in official governmental items such as our money and our national motto and the Pledge of Allegiance under the principle of \"ceremonial deism\" -- the idea that it's not really religion, but more of a tribal traditional sort of thing. Which ought to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7201,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2004\/10\/10\/bumper_sticker.html","url_meta":{"origin":17424,"position":5},"title":"Bumper sticker politics","author":"***Dave","date":"Sun 10-Oct-04 1:54pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Obviously folks design things to convey a message, political bumper stickers not least of all. So this analysis of the standard Bush v. Kerry stickers is sort of interesting. Is...","rel":"","context":"In "Elections 2004"","block_context":{"text":"Elections 2004","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/politics-law\/elections-2004"},"img":{"alt_text":"bush_kerry.jpg","src":"\/blog\/images\/bush_kerry.jpg","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17424","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17424"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17424\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17426"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17424"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17424"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17424"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}](\"http:\/\/randomviewpoints.files.wordpress.com\/2008\/05\/coexist-1.jpg\"){kind=link}
![think<\/a>](\"http:\/\/3.bp.blogspot.com\/_qwNGaeCRkvY\/Sddjld9cbKI\/AAAAAAAABFo\/hd3VKdBhPN0\/s1600\/coexist.jpg\"){kind=link}
![it’s<\/a>](\"http:\/\/xenohistorian.files.wordpress.com\/2008\/01\/a-vi.gif?w=500&h=182\"){kind=link}
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![coexist<\/a> with Islam (or with anyone else at all, especially all those unwashed, smug, slovenly, liberal 20-year-old puddin’-heads who live in LA or Austin or Portland or Boulder and who put COEXIST bumper stickers on their Priuses and Volvos … just like Margie*). The Freepers think it’s all a wild](\"http:\/\/www.conservativeimage.com\/coexist.PNG\"){kind=link}
![leftist-commie-fascist<\/a> plot (or that gays and Jews are actually commies and Nazis … or maybe that’s supposed to be a Hindu \/ Buddhist \/ Jain](\"http:\/\/tommcmahon.typepad.com\/photos\/uncategorized\/2007\/11\/15\/coexist2b.gif\"){kind=link}