# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2008, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-if-you-found-a-religious-image/475374/21 "2008-12-02T19:39:15Z")
I’d sell it at auction, maybe on E-bay, to someone smart enough to know better, but I wouldn’t market it to the poor brainwashed fools who believe that shit. That’s taking advantage of ignorance. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2008, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-if-you-found-a-religious-image/475374/22 "2008-12-02T19:40:32Z")
> [@Sapo](#): > > 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? Nope. Just as I wouldn’t have any problems selling Santa (or The Great Pumpkin) cookies at a bake sale. ---
**Author:** ![Monstera\_deliciosa](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monstera_deliciosa/32/109_2.png) [@Monstera\_deliciosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monstera_deliciosa)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2008, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-if-you-found-a-religious-image/475374/23 "2008-12-02T19:43:18Z")
I wouldn’t do it. I really don’t like the idea of encouraging religious belief. ---
**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, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-if-you-found-a-religious-image/475374/24 "2008-12-02T19:46:30Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > 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. Exactly. Some of that junk goes for thousands of dollars. I’m not going to throw that away just because I feel bad about some moron thinking a virgin had a baby 2,000 years ago. That’s his issue to deal with. Anything over twenty bucks and you better believe I’m gonna leggo my eggo. ---
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2008, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-if-you-found-a-religious-image/475374/25 "2008-12-02T19:46:36Z")
Probably not, but it wouldn’t be so much an ethical issue (I wouldn’t present myself as believing it was divine but who am I to get in the way of others doing so) as a logistical one. Too much trouble to deal with it. Similarly, if there was a cult out there that believes in the divinity of Champion gym socks, I wouldn’t let them in my closet unless there were only a few of them, they were offering a lot of money, and promised to leave quickly. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2008, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-if-you-found-a-religious-image/475374/26 "2008-12-02T19:51:36Z")
I would gladly separate the suckers from their money. I wouldn’t concoct the situation, but if the situation was there, I would happily exploit it. COME SEE TEH BABY JEEBUS MANIFESTED IN A WALNUT! $10! ---
**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, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-if-you-found-a-religious-image/475374/27 "2008-12-02T19:57:52Z")
> [@Sapo](#): > > I guess I should know, but is this as an atheist or a believer? I’m an atheist. My point is. I can not know what I might do without being in that situation. I can’t make a very good guess as to whether I’d be devious, or honest. Probably honest. I’d probably take a picture of it and put it on the internet, and not make money on it. Like **Anaamika** I’d probably be too lazy to do anything more. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2008, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-if-you-found-a-religious-image/475374/28 "2008-12-02T20:14:18Z")
I’d have no problem making money off of it, so long as I didn’t have to lie and it didn’t inconvenience my neighbors. I lived not far from a church with a Mary on the wall - on certain feast days the traffic got real bad. Maybe I’d cut in some chump of a believer to be the front man, a guy who could testify about it honestly. ---
**Author:** ![VarlosZ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d78d45/32.png) [@VarlosZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VarlosZ)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2008, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-if-you-found-a-religious-image/475374/29 "2008-12-02T20:14:43Z")
Basically, the question is whether or not you think [Homer Simpson](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lisa_the_Skeptic) found a classy solution in the same situation. Anyway, of course I’d have a problem with it, just as I’d have a problem with charging the credulous for Tarot card readings I knew to be bogus. It’s implicitly dishonest (or explicitly, depending on how you market it). At best, it’s merely crass. ---
**Author:** ![Necroscopics](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ba9def/32.png) [@Necroscopics](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Necroscopics)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2008, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-if-you-found-a-religious-image/475374/30 "2008-12-02T21:05:26Z")
> [@Contrapuntal](#): > > I’d sell it at auction, maybe on E-bay, to someone smart enough to know better, but I wouldn’t market it to the poor brainwashed fools who believe that shit. That’s taking advantage of ignorance. I wouldn’t want to deal with the hoopla of having people in and around my house all the time. I would market it on E-bay to the people who are fanatical about that shit and turn a buck though. I have no qualms with letting people give me their money. The mold may bear a resembalence to Jesus (or whoever) but I’m not the one who ascribes it special signifigance or the ability to heal people. Although, to be honest, if the difference between me making tons of cash off it and just having some mold is telling someone that my life has been clearer and had more focus or that I’m sleeping better or feeling more spiritually fit, I’m not only going to lie, I’m going to lie convincingly. Additionally, I would then get the leak fixed with all that fat cash so I don’t get any more mold spots. ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2008, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-if-you-found-a-religious-image/475374/31 "2008-12-02T21:15:22Z")
I’d pour a little bleach on it and scrub it with a wire brush; if it held up, then the line forms on the right. Open from 9:00 to 3:00; private viewings available on request with negotiable, non-refundable price paid in advance. Following several weeks of frenzy, I’d offer it for sale to the highest bidder on a paid in advance, all sales final basis. ---
**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, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-if-you-found-a-religious-image/475374/32 "2008-12-02T21:40:45Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > I would gladly separate the suckers from their money. I wouldn’t concoct the situation, but if the situation was there, I would happily exploit it. > > COME SEE TEH BABY JEEBUS MANIFESTED IN A WALNUT! $10! This works best if you live 1/2 mile off the interstate. You can put up 10,000 billboards, two miles apart, and people will flock to see the beloved walnut. ---
**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, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-if-you-found-a-religious-image/475374/33 "2008-12-02T22:02:31Z")
Billboards from New York to California - through Asia! ---
**Author:** ![Sapo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Sapo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapo)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2008, 9:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-if-you-found-a-religious-image/475374/34 "2008-12-03T09:33:03Z")
> [@Monstera\_deliciosa](#): > > I wouldn’t do it. I really don’t like the idea of encouraging religious belief. This is, I think, the real crux of the matter. By promoting the image (whether you make money or not) you are encouraging religiosity, therefore acting against your beliefs as an atheist. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2008, 9:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-if-you-found-a-religious-image/475374/35 "2008-12-03T09:41:49Z")
Nope, I wouldn’t. It just encourages them. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2008, 9:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-if-you-found-a-religious-image/475374/36 "2008-12-03T09:51:50Z")
I wouldn’t do it. I don’t like preying on people’s gullibility, which includes any form of profiting off religion. I also don’t approve of encouraging religion. I would put this as being on about the same level as making money by selling pseudoscientific tracts that claim to scientifically justify racism or sexism or homophobia. Plus, I’m a terrible liar. I don’t think I COULD do such a thing. ---
**Author:** ![Marienee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@Marienee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marienee)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2008, 10:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-if-you-found-a-religious-image/475374/37 "2008-12-03T10:18:49Z")
It sort of happened to my atheist FIL. The IL’s bought this house and it was rather a dump. But it is 400 years old and structurally sound so the first thing they did was rip out all the crappy partition walls that had been put up. In doing so they discovered a crucifix image built right into the walls in a most unlikely place. It is a very odd thing, it seems to be mostly porcelain-like surface surrounding a claywork crucifix. It had a figure on it but this was broken off at some point before they discovered it. But it was in some way built right into or as part of the wall, which is stone and about half a meter thick. In the end they had to hew it out, as it could not be detached in any way anybody could figure out. It is still upstairs in a closet as nobody can figure out what to do with it. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2008, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-if-you-found-a-religious-image/475374/38 "2008-12-03T14:48:19Z")
> [@Sapo](#): > > This is, I think, the real crux of the matter. By promoting the image (whether you make money or not) you are encouraging religiosity, therefore acting against your beliefs as an atheist. WHAT beliefs?? _You’re_ the one religious nuts are always babbling about when they say atheists are believers too? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2008, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-if-you-found-a-religious-image/475374/39 "2008-12-03T15:05:24Z")
eBay. Also, what **Cisco** said. ---
**Author:** ![ratatoskK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ratatoskk/32/2987_2.png) [@ratatoskK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratatoskK)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2008, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-if-you-found-a-religious-image/475374/40 "2008-12-03T15:09:28Z")
I wouldn’t do it, because I’m not a huckster. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-if-you-found-a-religious-image/475374.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-if-you-found-a-religious-image/475374.md?page=3)