Green Oasis

Richard Dawkins’ OUT Campaign exhorted atheists to be more public about their godlessness. The campaign urges atheists to come out, speak out, reach out, stand out.

I agree that atheists needs to become more visible in the United States. I’m not wild about the campaign’s scarlet letter A symbol. I like the allusions to The Scarlet Letter and The Crucible, but I have other reasons to dislike it. Some thought it was too in your face. I thought it wasn’t in your face enough because the symbol doesn’t have the word “atheist” anywhere. I saw very little point in displaying a symbol only other atheists know the meaning of.

So I went to spreadshirt.com and made up a shirt to suit my tastes. I drew my inspiration from a plain, gray shirt that I’ve had for years that simply said “geek.” on the front. I also liked the idea of the empty set being a symbol for godlessness. Mix in one handy atheist quote with a slightly mathematical flair, and voilà! I had a t-shirt. Here is yours truly modeling the result:

Front: godless.

Reverse: I contend that we are both atheists.
I just believe in one fewer god than you.
—Stephen F. Roberts
{ }

My wife was out gallivanting around Vegas last week for a bachelorette party—you know how those Mormons are—so I had my four-year-old daughter take these photos. Pretty good for a first time photographer. We’ll have to get her a camera of her own.

I wore the shirt to the grocery store with my daughters. Disappointingly, I have no incidents to report. No one staring in disgust. No one refusing to serve as my cashier. Nothing. I’m left wondering what a passive-aggressive atheist has to do to get noticed around these parts. Perhaps all the showgirls make the average Las Vegan a bit jaded to such public displays.

Oh well. At least no one can accuse me of not doing my part for raising public awareness of atheism.