Every big metropolis hosts a particular quarter known for drawing in the more artsy, trendy and, I might add, left-leaning denizens of the city's population. Admittedly, these spots usually have the good restaurants and they possess a certain élan notably absent from other stodgy parts of the city. Political persuasions aside, they’re usually fun places to take in some local color.
The other day, I was driving through Milwaukee's own hip enclave and I noticed a strikingly high number of the very trendy "Coexist" bumper stickers slapped on the backs of the equally trendy hybrid cars. The stickers must be in vogue because I spotted them everywhere in this part of town.
Truth be told, the bumper sticker rubbed me the wrong way from the get-go. It profanely lumps together symbols sacred to the monotheistic religions with new age bric-a-brac like the "peace" sign and Ying Yang. The source of my ire might also be that those boasting the fashionable car label usually follow decidedly liberal proclivities and are not known to be particularly religious, in the sense of belonging to an organized religion or adhering to traditional theological orthodoxy; but it's precisely these hippies who are presuming to lecture the pesky pious folk for the implied consequences of serious religious adherence. The sticker is a remarkable combination of condescension, arrogance and kitsch.
The word "Coexist" is used primarily by members Unitarian Universalist Church. Each Letter represents a way of thought...
ReplyDeleteThe crescent and star for Islam; the pentagram for Wicca; the relativity formula for science; the star of David for Judaism; the Karma Wheel dotting the i for Buddhism; the Tao symbol for Taoism; the cross for Christianity.
In some instances, the E has been linked to the male and female symbol for Gender Coexistence...