# Atheists, if you found a religious image. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 2, 2008, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-if-you-found-a-religious-image/475374 "2008-12-02T18:58:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sapo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Sapo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapo)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2008, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-if-you-found-a-religious-image/475374/1 "2008-12-02T18:58:16Z")
Say you are doing laundry and notice an image of Jesus/Mary/Buddha/Unicorn on the mold stains in the wall. Or something else to that effect in your property. Would you have ethical problems with making money of it? Assume that the image is clear and convincing (smelling of roses, sparkling or whatever) to the target credulous mass, and that you are convinced there is nothing mystic about it, of course. Assume you have a ready supply of such credulous masses, waiting to pay to see it (or buy the t-shirts, or whatever) Also assume that you can legally make money of it and that the cost of doing business is negligible. 1- Find image 2- X 3- Profit where X is just your willingness to go for it. Would you? (actually, the answer is also interesting from believers, so go ahead and reply if you are so inclined) ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2008, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-if-you-found-a-religious-image/475374/2 "2008-12-02T19:01:02Z")
I don’t know. I’ll know when it happens. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2008, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-if-you-found-a-religious-image/475374/3 "2008-12-02T19:02:18Z")
Naw. I’m too lazy and plus, have you SEEN what happens when you do this? Hordes of people crowd around your house or wherever you are displaying it. Ugh. ---
**Author:** ![Sapo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Sapo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapo)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2008, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-if-you-found-a-religious-image/475374/4 "2008-12-02T19:03:28Z")
> [@Lobsang](#): > > I don’t know. I’ll know when it happens. I guess I should know, but is this as an atheist or a believer? ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2008, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-if-you-found-a-religious-image/475374/5 "2008-12-02T19:05:23Z")
Sure! Why not? Telling the world you have a pancake shaped like the virgin mary doesn’t mean you think the virgin mary story holds any significance. It would be the same as if you had an oily spot on the garage floor that was shaped like Margaret Thatcher. It just looks like something that is recognizable by the masses. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2008, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-if-you-found-a-religious-image/475374/6 "2008-12-02T19:07:02Z")
I would consider making money off religiously gullible folks like that to be Darwinian thinning of the wallet. I’d probably be too lazy to make a buck off of it, though. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2008, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-if-you-found-a-religious-image/475374/7 "2008-12-02T19:09:44Z")
Sure. But I’d do the same for Obama or Osama. ---
**Author:** ![jk1245](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/49beb7/32.png) [@jk1245](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jk1245)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2008, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-if-you-found-a-religious-image/475374/8 "2008-12-02T19:11:28Z")
Absolutely. No qualms whatsoever. I wouldn’t fraudulently make an image then try to pass it off as something other than that, but if people wanted to pay to see some image I happened to find on my property? Line starts over there. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2008, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-if-you-found-a-religious-image/475374/9 "2008-12-02T19:12:09Z")
Hells yes. If I would except anyone to refrain, it would be the religious (though they never seem to.) Why would an atheist have a problem with this? ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2008, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-if-you-found-a-religious-image/475374/10 "2008-12-02T19:13:18Z")
> [@Sapo](#): > > Would you have ethical problems with making money of it? Not in the least. I’d flog that fucker for every last dime. ---
**Author:** ![MacTech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MacTech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacTech)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2008, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-if-you-found-a-religious-image/475374/11 "2008-12-02T19:13:55Z")
Nope, it’s just mold in an interesting pattern, no significance at all, I’d simply remove it (kill the mold with bleach or something) ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2008, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-if-you-found-a-religious-image/475374/12 "2008-12-02T19:18:48Z")
I’d have problems with it. I couldn’t market it as a miraculous image without hating myself for playing with other people’s emotions. Maybe if the Ripley’s Museum offered to buy it to add to their collection of potatoes that resemble past presidents, that would be okay. ---
**Author:** ![ParentalAdvisory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@ParentalAdvisory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParentalAdvisory)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2008, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-if-you-found-a-religious-image/475374/13 "2008-12-02T19:19:34Z")
Sell out Jesus? No problem. ---
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2008, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-if-you-found-a-religious-image/475374/14 "2008-12-02T19:20:52Z")
I would have ethical problems with profiting from the gullibility of the faithful. That’s what I don’t like about religion. ---
**Author:** ![blinkingblinking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@blinkingblinking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blinkingblinking)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2008, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-if-you-found-a-religious-image/475374/15 "2008-12-02T19:23:22Z")
Would not it be more immoral for a believer to profit from this kind of thing ? ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2008, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-if-you-found-a-religious-image/475374/16 "2008-12-02T19:26:16Z")
I feel like you’d have to do a little more than sell a Jesus-shaped waffle on eBay. You’d probably need an ‘I once was lost but now am found! Hallelujah!’ story to go with it. I’m also not sure what could be ‘clear and convincing’ to a nonbeliever, whose first instinct may just be to say, ‘That smudge on the wall looks like a face. Oh well, time to clean’ rather than ‘It’s a sign!’ ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2008, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-if-you-found-a-religious-image/475374/17 "2008-12-02T19:29:38Z")
> [@74westy](#): > > I would have ethical problems with profiting from the gullibility of the faithful. That’s what I don’t like about religion. I don’t see how gullibility plays into it. You aren’t saying the baby jesus dropped it into your pancake griddle. You’re just saying it’s a pancake shaped like the VM. If you don’t try to sucker people in, you aren’t being a bad guy. ---
**Author:** ![Sapo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Sapo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapo)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2008, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-if-you-found-a-religious-image/475374/18 "2008-12-02T19:33:19Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > Naw. I’m too lazy and plus, have you SEEN what happens when you do this? Hordes of people crowd around your house or wherever you are displaying it. Ugh. Too lazy to make easy money? Let’s leave that aside and assume it is something transportable that you could exhibit away from your home. Or say an authenticable manuscript from John Paul II that you could sell or publish for profit. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2008, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-if-you-found-a-religious-image/475374/19 "2008-12-02T19:35:45Z")
I don’t see any deception or fraud being involved. The significance of the image is all subjective interpretation. If I didn’t fake it and I’m not making any false claims about it, what’s unethical? If somebody wants to buy my Jesus waffle, and I’m upfront with all the facts about it, I see nothing wrong with it. The buyer would be making a totally informed decision. ---
**Author:** ![Sapo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Sapo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapo)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2008, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-if-you-found-a-religious-image/475374/20 "2008-12-02T19:37:09Z")
> [@Cat\_Fight](#): > > I feel like you’d have to do a little more than sell a Jesus-shaped waffle on eBay. You’d probably need an ‘I once was lost but now am found! Hallelujah!’ story to go with it. > > I’m also not sure what could be ‘clear and convincing’ to a nonbeliever, whose first instinct may just be to say, ‘That smudge on the wall looks like a face. Oh well, time to clean’ rather than ‘It’s a sign!’ Clear and convincing to the believer. To the non-believer it would just be some curious natural item with a recognizable and not common shape and properties. Say a branch falls from a tree with part of it being a Michelangelo-grade sculpture of a saint that smells of roses and bleeds oil. Something that trips your “this is not something I see everyday” sensors. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-if-you-found-a-religious-image/475374.md?page=2)