Eirik, I can say that as an adult, I’d hardly blink at the Bible passages. But as a kid raised Unitarian and into my early 20s or so, my religion radar was set to pick up the faintest whisper of proselytizing (prob’ly you know this, but Unitarians tend to see intolerance as the only really nasty sin left, and often think of missionaries as slightly more socially deviant than flashers). It would have weirded me out then.
I also second the thought that so many people have that passage memorized that it might be counterproductive to use it in that context.
And just a thought, but some Christian folks feel strongly about exactly which Bible is the right one… the King James isn’t popular with Catholics, etc.
Kinko’s-type copy places can usually laminate stuff for you with that nice hard lamination, not like the flimsy contact-paper stuff that gets frayed after a while. Maybe you could have printed up some stuff about good preventive eye care – wearing goggles when using tools, eating carrots, that sort of thing? Or something funny, maybe? Unless is important that the text be boring?
I bet you could get a nice map off the Internet somewhere, something like, say, the London Underground.
Gee, this is fun to think about! I would feel personally honored if you would let me make something up for you – you could tell me how small the type should be, and I could send you samples. This is the kind of graphics / text project that is actually candy for me. Whatya say? I’d do it pro bono in honor of Washington State, home of my heart (sigh). Let me know!
The problem with lamination is that you end up with a real reflection problem in a bright room, the same reason that I stopped using standard magazines for my real world tests. I think what I may do for some of this is to get my hands on a nice, tough Thomas Guide of Seattle and use that. Should be complex enough without being offensive. When I get a chance, I’ll pick up a different card.
Beleive me, everyone, I never blinked at this passage on the card. I’ve had the card for something like five years. I havn’t used it all that much since leaving graduate school three years ago, and when I do grab it, my intention has been to use the newspaper sized print, usually if I’ve misplaced my other aids. It wasn’t until recently that a couple patients on the same day started to recite Genesis (and one wouldn’t stop until I took the card away) that it even occured to me that someone might be offended. It was, simply put, the only card that I had. I was required to buy it at the time, and never gave it any thought after that.
Eirik: Maybe another good idea would be to use a comic book. It seems that would be a good example of what people see in their day-to-day lives since the text in them tends to be handwritten. You could get one of those Calvin and Hobbes collection books and give your patients a good laugh along with the test.
Atheist since birth here. In itself, it wouldn’t bother me. If ALL the text was religious in nature, I’d kinda wonder, but it’s clear that’s not the case here.
If I were going to you to get my eyes checked, the only things that would make me not return to you are, (1) If I thought you didn’t do a good job, or (2) If you were sending out really strange vibes, like asking me what I thought of the particular passage.
Count me a non-religious person who would avoid using it not for religious reasons, but because so many people may be familiar with the passage that they might feel they can see it better than they really can.
My first thought was to go with a passage from a history book that had a few dates in it and maybe an unfamiliar name or two.
And I wouldn’t be offended in the least by your initial choice.
I’m an atheist and I’m ok with the Bible text. I understand the bible, while not popular in my house, is quite popular elsewhere. It seems logical to use it.
BUT,. I’ve seen several different bibles and they all have different text. So I don’t know how relevent it is to use it (or is there a standard bible book I’m unaware?)
This is where I have a problem. That bastard ran off with my first wife. AAAAGHHHHH!
I realize the issue in the OP has been settled but I have to point this out: I am Jewish, but would suspect that anyone who wants to show me a Bible verse is a Christian. I’d still go to them as my doctor but would be on the alert for conversion attempts and wouldn’t go back if any happened. (I wouldn’t assume based on the OP that an optometrist with that card actually WANTED to show me a Bible verse.)
There are so many paranoid people out there. If a piece of text is shown to you when having your eyes tested, then surely the context is obvious? I am an atheist, and would have no problem with a simple test card (although obviously it would be different if you had lots of religious paraphenalia in your office).
On the other hand I would agree that there could be a problem if people know the text, although, as Seven pointed out, there are lots of versions of the bible, although some are more common than others, although i forget which is most common.
Maybe you can use small print from a contract, like the Microsoft EULA. No-one ever reads those, and they are really tiny. Then again, Apple zealots might be offended.
Possibly because there is an implied concious choice in what someone gives you to read. Give me a paragraph copied for a anti-Bush site, and I’ll assume you are a raving liberal - on the loony side. Likewise, give me a Ann Coulter peice on homosexuals, and I’ll assume you are a right wing anti gay bigot. Give me the latest People magazine and ask me to read “Why JLo stays” and I’ll wonder about you - or about what conclusions you’ve jumped to about me.
Few things are really neutral (Seven’s phone book example of “that guy ran off with my wife” may be a joke, and relatively low risk, but its a good example of how nothing is really neutral). The Bible is seen as neutral by some, but for many people, it is a very loaded choice.
I wouldn’t be offended, but I would wonder. And I might not return if I had an excuse not to. I’m one of those non-Christians who figures that I’ll do my part to balance the equation by not patronizing an establishment that uses a little fish to get business - I kind of figure there are other people picking that mechanic because of the little fish.
Reflection problems with lamination hadn’t occurred to me. Oops.
I HAD an optometrist who had tracts and whatnot in the exam room, but he never said a word about 'em to me. If he had, I’d have up and left. As it was, though, I couldn’t really afford to go elsewhere and chose not to react unless confronted. This was in Georgia, so I wasn’t surprised.
I’d probably avoid a business that had the fish in their ads unless they’d been recommended to me by trustworthy people as the best in the area. Isn’t there something in the NT about not flaunting your faith in public? (Note: I don’t consider wearing a cross flaunting. Using a fish in your ads to get business, though, crosses that line IMO.)
There was a local business in my former area called “Christian Metal Screen Company.” I never could figure out if the owner’s name was Christian, or if it was a deliberate obnoxious choice. Since I never needed a metal screen, I never found out.
If you’re looking for another opinion, I, as an athiest, would probably not be bothered by it given that it was clearly on a mass-produced sample card.
On the other hand, I’m not surprised that no one has ever commented on the card. If you had something on the card that did offend me, I would be unlikely to say anything about it, but I wouldn’t come back.
I’m surprised that you started a thread asking, Do you feel this way? and then when some people honestly answered yes, you responded by calling them closed-minded. If you thought it was “petty,” why did you even start the thread instead of just dismissing this out of hand? I mean, it just seems like a rude way to pay folks back for responding to your question.
I’m atheist and it wouldn’t bother me at all so long as it was clearly just the standard, mass-produced thing for eye tests. If the doctor handed me a bible and told me to start reading, I might get annoyed and ask for another book if I had the nerve.
