If any of these ads are placed by non-Christians who think Christians are so exploited and downtrodden that they put the fish in as a sign of solidarity, then I withdraw my objection. Believing in religious freedom as I do, I might patronize that store - except that I’d suspect the owner has totally lost touch with reality.
We’re talking about businesses here, remember. If a business put in an ad with a donkey or elephant (in the US) do you think it is wrong for members of the opposite party to not patronize that business? I don’t even mind Christmas decorations, inside the store.
As for your first point, what the fsck else should we expect it to mean? Ads have to stress competitive advantage in some way. Maybe it is supposed to mean that the business is ethical, but we have been told that this doesn’t mean anyone else isn’t, so it’s not an advantage. It might mean that the business owner is so god-soaked he can’t do anything without shouting out his faith. Lenny Bruce had a line about over-sensitivity for another faith “The time is 5 pm and yes I’m Jewish!” Or, and this seems most likely, the ad is saying that the advertiser is a member of the club and other members should patronize him before those heathen.
That’s fine, but we who are not club members will look for someplace else where we won’t be at the back of the line. For all I know, the secret Christian handshake will get you a 10% discount. Not for me, thanks.
I can’t offer a strong citation for your precise claim, but I just finished reading “The Cambridge Companion to Atheism” and can offer the following exerpt:
Benjamin Beit-Hallahmi, “Atheists: A Psychological Profile” in “The Cambridge Companion to Atheism”
A few caveats are in order. First, this is an essay by someone sympathetic to the atheist view. This hardly means they are dishonestly portraying data, but their possible bias should be kept in mind. Secondly, the cited studies are clearly old. The most recent is from 1950. Thirdly, I can offer no direct data from the studies themselves, not being familiar with them.
That said, I think there are real grounds for tentatively holding that non-religious people are at least as moral (on average) as religious people.
As to the OP, I agree with the general consensus in this thread. A religious icon or two in a store doesn’t bother me at all. But if a business heavily advertises their religiosity, it’s a turn-off.
If it’s done to draw in those of the same religion or keep those of different religions (and the non-religious) away, then they don’t want my business. If it’s done as a proclamation of morality, then it’s counterproductive. The more used-car dealers yell about how honest they are, the less I believe them. Adding religious flavor to the yelling doesn’t change that. And if it’s done because the business owners are deeply religious and it’s a part of their life they simply can’t help but advertise, then I sincerely wonder about how professionally they can manage to run their business.
Actually, Johnson and Johnson had the cross first, and the Red Cross licenses it. There is a lawsuit since the RC is licensing competing product with the cross, and J&J is pissed.
I never imagined that snippet of info, which I got from the Times this morning, would come in handy so quickly.
[hijack]The RC does license it, but I think they actually got there first. I think J&J just trademarked it first. I might be wrong about that. When did J&J start?[/hijack]
Actually, I’d think that any business owner who put a religious or political message on their truck is an idiot, even if it is a message I agree with. If we start to identify our businesses with specific ethnic, religious, or political groups, we’re going to wind up like Northern Ireland, Lebanon, or Iraq.
Assuming there is no good reason to do so, of course. In my town many stores have Arabic or Chinese lettering on their windows, showing that the people inside speak that language and are good places for the many people in my town who speak those as a first (and sometimes only) language to shop. I’m not offended at all, though I’ll go someplace else if the clerks don’t speak English. Not out of politics, just because it is tough to do business when you call a store, ask what time it closes, and get total incomprehension.
In these cases there is a good business reason for using these languages. None of the Arabic stores see fit to use a crescent, by the way, and I’ve never seen any indication they consider themselves superior.
I haven’t been to Mass since they used Latin. But, in those days, it was considered almost sacreligious to wear the Rosary as jewelry. Even in my lapsed state, I’d consider it poor taste to hang a Rosary from a rearview mirror.
However, you may express yourself as you wish. And many businesses I frequent have religious “decorations”–Buddhist, Hindu, Taoist & RC.
However, I find using the Fish (or any other religious/political symbol) in advertising rather tacky. But I might make an exception for the Rainbow Fish!
Los Angeles Catholic Archdiocese Uses the Christian Fish Symbol for Homosexual Solidarity…
(You do realize that some of the Christian Fish folks regard you as a Hellbound Papist, don’t you?)
Years ago when I was young and went to church. I got the worse cheating of my life from a couple of church members. One was a lawyer, the other a real estate broker. It almost cost me my house. I don’t go to church anymore, but that is not the reason. I deal with a Christian auto repair company, have for more than 20 years and have always been treated fair. He put in a starter a couple of months ago and it quit. He replaced it free of charge, no questions. I would trust him with any car I owned. Don’t get “hung up” on names, they are meaningless. Look for reliable people when you want to deal on something. Being an atheist or a religious person doesn’t say anything about how you treat others. Try to find a company with a reputation for fair dealing and stick with them.
Christians should be the most offended when businesses engage in transparent, Christian targeted, religious pandering in their advertising. Aren’t those businesses basically saying they think Christians are suckers who will easily be reeled in by the sight of a cross or Bible verse?
I once saw a Dateline-type show (don’t remember exactly what it was – if it wasn’t Dateline it was something similar), where they were busting used car dealerships with hidden mics and cameras, catching what they dealers were saying to each other when they thought there weren’t any customers watching. They caught one dealer hustling a particular couple (who he had somehow deduced were Christians) by going on and how about how he was a Christian and why that made it so important to be honest and tell the truth and work to give people the squarest deals, yadda, yadda. Then, after the couple left, he immediately started snickering to the other dealers about how he was playing them by telling them he was a Christian and essentially mocking them as gullible, easy marks. It was fun to watch him squirm when the Dateline crew went back and played the video back to him.
That’s pretty much how I feel about a lot of overtly religious advertising – that it’s a come on, a hustle. I would expect a lot of people in the target faith to see right through it and be annoyed by it.
Even assuming that was true ( and the last thing I’d call Christianity is ethical ), so what ? Do you think that an unethical person wouldn’t do something unethical, like, oh, put a religious symbol on his advertisments to attract gullible religious people, despite not caring about that religion ? If the advertisment said “WE ARE HONEST ! TRUST US !” would that make you think they are more trustworthy ? Really, you make me think of the old anti-Communists who wanted everyone to pledge allegience to God & America, apparently under the theory that Communist agents wouldn’t lie and swear anyway.
Nonsense. Did I say I wouldn’t patronize Christian owned business ? No. I said that I wouldn’t patronize a business that made a point of flaunting how Christian it was.
I don’t trust someone whose flaunting how Christian they are for the same reason I don’t rtrust someone who flaunts, say, how patriotic they are. Almost certainly, they are either trying to manipulate people, or they are fanatics.
A small difference, yes. But the it’s not in the favor of the religious, and it’s certainly not what I’d expect if most people’s atheism = evil attitude was true.
If a store or business displayed one of their symbols I would trade with them if the price was right, or the article was made better, however I would consider that Jesus didn’t like the Pharisees because they wore their religious symbols to show how holier than thou they were. So I wouldn’t be impressed or think they were really more honest etc. than other businesses that made no such display.
They all seem to close at 5, kind of hard when you get off work at 6. But that’s a feeble Pit thread for another day.