One of the many hats I wear to make extra money on occasion while I plod on through my second attempt at higher education is a purveyor of handcrafted caffeinated beverages (read: coffee). And at this particular location where people pay $5 for shredded, soaked beans coated in sugar and lactose there are a great deal of religious people. You see, there is a very expensive, very beautiful Christian private college next door and we are inundated with students wearing all kinds of Jeebus merchandise.
You know the drill. Intersection necklaces. Crown-o-thorn beanies. Random words from an ancient Jewish historical fiction book with military time stamps next to them. Or something.
Anyway, it occurred to me that there aren’t many “symbols” us non-religious folks can wear to indicate our distance from the brainwashed masses. After a bit of googling I found this merchant on Etsy who makes hand-made Atheist necklaces from silver. There are many different styles, and you could go with a slightly less blunt version; “skeptic” or “freethinker” or even “heathen.”
I received mine a couple of weeks ago and just had to share how happy I am with it. Gets the point a cross, eh?
Atheist necklace
The only question I have is if you, my readers, have any experience with wearing jewelry or clothing items which indicate your atheism. Surely people (especially employers) can’t balk at it, since people of other creeds wear their religious memorabilia all the time. Off the clock I wear this necklace all the time, but I’m curious how much crap I’ll get if I wear it on the job. What do you think?
The Atheist S.L.U.T. 
That is just so damn cool, one of the best things I’ve seen ever.
I’m so glad you like it! I’m pretty smitten as well. I highly recommend the merchant who made it for me too. Check out the link, if you like.
Already have done, there is the international atheist symbol, but yours is better as there is no affiliation, just the word… cool
Thanks! I had the same reaction. The symbol is great, but so many Xtians have no clue what it is, so it wouldnt be as….blatant as I wanted the statement to be.
Blatant’s good, but I’d also want it in Ivrut and Classical Arabic… there aren’t as many Xtians (I like that too) in my borough. So I’d want all my bases covered
I wouldn’t be too concerned about the employer alone, but since it’s a service job, too many complaints from the people who wear skewed x’s around their necks may cause a situation that would leave said employer no choice.
*sigh* you’re probably right. I can’t wait to be a nurse. Zero fucks will be given
I have to +1 to the awesomeness of this. Even when I was a fundamentalist, born-again Christian, I didn’t get into wearing crosses or anything like that. But I would totally wear an “atheist” necklace.
haha, your willingness gives me courage to do the same with more frequency. So far people give weird looks in public, but no one has said anything.
Eh, I have the advantage of working in a non-customer-facing department, so no one except my co-workers would see it. OTOH, if I wore it out in public, I probably would get more than weird looks ( I live in Colorado Springs, lol).
Colorado Springs is gorgeous! My mom grew up there. A part of me hopes that CO is a bit more openminded than some of the other states…
Depends on where you are. Denver and north, from what I understand, is pretty open. Colorado Springs has Focus on the Family, YWAM, and New Life Church, so….not as much.
If you wanted an edgier form of that necklace, I’d make the “T” a Xtian cross. Maybe with a smiley face on it.
Now, if you wanted a more subtle statement, you could wear a cross that has an x through it. If anyone asks, it’s your own special design. Extra points if you can get the kids at the school to start wearing it!
Great post, AS. It almost makes me want to consider what options for Atheist jewelry there are for guys.
You should totally wear one! Represent! I’m sure you’d look fabulous. Thanks for the comment đŸ™‚
Well, I see it like this. I am a Tennessee Alumni, graduated and everything, and by extension a Tennessee fan be it football. basketball, baseball, Ladies Vols Lacrosse (you get the point). Even though I am a fan–a big fan, I’ve never owned much orange and white clothing; a hat here, a T-shirt there lost it or gave it away over the years. My student loans and rich memories of frat parties and alcohol poisoning are enough to remind me that I am in fact a Tennessee Vol for life.
As a consultant I travel extensively Birmingham one week, St. Louis the next, then out to Seattle for three weeks straight. If I am in Birmingham and surrounded by Auburn or Alabama fans BLATANTLY wearing their paraphernalia–which I personally find atrocious–I DO NOT FEEL THE NEED TO GO BUY A BUNCH OF TENNESSEE STUFF IN “RETALIATION” OF SOME SORT. Do I think they are misguided, of course! My favorite bumper sticker is “I am a Tennessee Fan because I have a diploma, you are an Alabama fan because you went to Wal-Mart” but seriously at some point let it go.
If you don’t believe in their belief, and you never felt the need to go on Etsy and find a way to “advertise” your belief before then why do it now just to antagonize your “enemy” or whatever. Sounds like the Christians are way more on your mind and in your head than you are on theirs. Maybe you should just let it slide and be tolerant. Be the bigger man so to speak. I’m out.
(by the way, I am agnostic, small a, and an avid student of world religions)
thanks LC for once again having a great point to share and taking the time to let me know what you think.
However, I disagree on one key point. Its not the same as saying “this is my team and this is your team”. It’s a matter of blatantly clashing paradigms. On one hand, it was a social experiment for me to see how people would treat me different based on something so superficial (which I know you can relate to on a much broader level).
Also, its something about myself that I can’t change to be more “tolerable” by our culture at large. So, in a sense its the first time I’ve ever experience any kind of prejudice and I’m fascinated by it. Something about me, which people know very little about (a lack of belief in god, not some satanist religion of its own) they are willing to judge and dismiss me for. Gotta love the Bible belt.
It’s super easy to tell a minority (religious or otherwise) to “Just don’t make waves”. It’s a power imbalance. Christians get to wear their paraphernalia without any second glance at all – it’s practically a tribal signifier in some areas. But atheists are told, “Dude, you’re being antagonistic”? It’s a double standard catering to the dominant religion, and while I don’t particularly care whether any given person is religious or not, atheists should not be pushed down simply because they wish to express their identity in the same way.