What Do They Mean By “Coexist”?
I am a field installation person for the company I work for. This means that I go to my shop from home and then take a company vehicle to the job-site. I travel any where from 30 minutes to 1 1/2 hours to the job-site, and then back again at the end of the day also. I am a person who loves to read bumper stickers as I drive to kill the time. I have noticed some trends over time. Most notably the now famous 1-20-09 end of an error bumper sticker. I remember seeing my first one, not knowing what it referred to until I could catch up to the vehicle to read it. Over time I have seen more and more of these stickers, they are pretty popular now. I saw my first John Edwards ‘08 bumper sticker today on a vehicle with New Hampshire plates, this disturbs me.
A couple of months ago I saw another bumper sticker that made me speed up to read it.
The peace symbol for the “O” told me all I needed to know, or so I thought. Just an anti-war liberal. I didn’t give it a second thought. But more recently I have noticed more and more of these bumper stickers, and have started wondering what these people are trying to say to me. What do they mean by “coexist”? Who do they want to “coexist” with each other?
A closer look at this bumper sticker reveals many religious symbols in it in addition to the peace symbol. It appears to me that the peace symbol actually replaced the original symbol on the sticker as seen in this picture:
According to a website that sells the bumper sticker:
Every letter has a symbol that represents a system of thought: The 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 Chrisitianity.
The bumper sticker actually has symbols for many religions as well as science. In the case of the bumper stickers that I have seen the Wicca symbol is replaced with a peace symbol. Does this mean that they are equating peace with religion or the lack thereof? I don’t think so. I think this is a typical liberal feel good bumper sticker. They are telling us that all religions need to coexist, I don’t have a problem with that, I wish all religions could coexist. But they can’t, they can’t because Muslim radicals don’t want to.
I hope these people aren’t trying to tell me that I need to learn to exist with radicals that want to kill me and my family.
So, are these people talking to the radical Muslims? For it is them that truly needs to learn coexist with us. It is they that need to learn to accept us. We have spent far too many years trying to coexist with terrorists and it led to September 11th. I don’t think they are talking to radicals.
These people are so upset with the war and the president that they have lost all sensibility. They are sporting bumper stickers that say coexist in an effort to show their discontent with the war. They are telling me, you, and the president that we just need to coexist. They don’t understand, or don’t want to understand the fact that most Americans, conservatives included, do want to be able to coexist in this world. I would love to coexist in this world and never have to go to war again with another country. The difference between me, other conservatives, the president and these coexist wackos is the fact that we are not naive enough to believe that by just willing everyone to coexist it will happen. These people are naive, that’s what it comes down to.
They are naive enough to the point of being offensive. How dare these people sport bumper stickers on their cars that imply that America needs to learn to coexist with radical Islamists. It is the Islamo-fascists that are teaching their children in schools and on television that America needs to be destroyed, that America is the great Satan, and that they will be rewarded in heaven if they kill Americans.
I don’t need to learn to coexist with them, they need to learn to coexist with me!
Filed under: Politics, September 11th, Terrorism, War, general, policies, political correctness | Tagged: Islamo-fascists, liberal bumper stickers, liberals, moonbats
Thanks for looking into this. I see it more frequently these days - usually on the back of 10-year old Honda civics or new Subarus - and always kind of wondered what the story was.
Now that you mention it, it’s pretty disgusting, isn’t it? Kinda a feel-good we should all get along despite our difference bullcrap. I don’t think you’d see too many camels with these slapped on their butts out in the sandbox, eh?
It is soooooooooo ironic that you brin this up, in fact I’m just incredulous. I literally just saw this exact same bumper sticker last night and was thinking some of the very same things as you!! In addition to this chick’s annoying bumper stickers she was driving too slow and I was in a hurry so chalk it up to me being pretty irritated.
This mentality is just irritating, sad and wrong!!
This post is another reflection of you and I thinking along the same lines, great minds think alike ;)!!
It just irritates me that these type of people are trying to tell us that we need to accept terrorists for who they are and coexist with them. They ironic part is that the same people liberals want to coexist with are the same people who would kill the liberals in a second. Then they wouldn’t have to worry about coexisting, would they. These people will never get it.
I hope I didn’t freak you out too much Dee, and yes, great minds do think alike.
maybe the people who ’sport’ the stickers are simply implying that it would be oh-so-lovely if we COULD all just co-exist. men, women, christians, liberals, conservatives, wiccans, heterosexuals, homosexuals, muslims, scientists, poets, dreamers, thinkers…
will world peace ever happen? probably not. but it’s a nice thought. and if one person is trying to make a difference, and support the idea, then so be it.
to me, the sticker represents someone thinking, feeling, and hoping for something better in our world.
and to ‘mpinkeyes’ …i don’t think these peeps are trying to suggest that “we to need accept terrorists”…i think the idea is how nice it WOULD BE IF IF IF IF IF IF IF IF IF IF we could all live together harmoniously. far fetched idea? yes. but a nice idea? yes.
besides, it’s better than that lame-ass sticker i’ve seen before with the little cartoon character-type-thing urinating on a ford symbol, or chevorlet symbol, right?
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“How dare these people sport bumper stickers on their cars that imply that America needs to learn to coexist with radical Islamists.”
it doesn’t occur to me that anyone’s proposing coexistence with terrorists (whether radical Muslims or otherwise)
maybe they’re proposing that we recognize the Islamic religion as something more than a mask that certain terrorists work under or use skewed doctrines from to convince followers. The radical groups that terrorize America (and other places! -think of more people than yourself) make up a very small percentage of the people who practice Islam… i think all this bumpersticker wants to to do is be less judgmental. agreed that it’s real uberhippie, but i think the sentiment is something to ponder.. not something to instigate racism.
“I don’t need to learn to coexist with them, they need to learn to coexist with me!”
and since i’m already on the edge of being rude, i’ll go there… i think your mentality is the one that (as “dee” said) is irritating, sad and wrong.
thanks for the vent, don’t take it to heart unless you want to
I know that the percentage of people who radicalize Islam is a minority percentage, that is why I seperate them from peaceful Muslims by using the term radical.
Here is one definition of radical:
Departing markedly from the usual or customary; extreme.
I don’t care what the percentage is, the fact is this is the group I am talking about. As far as being less judgemental, I will not be less judgemental against this one particular group who wants to kill us. Let me say it again, not all Muslims are terrorists, I am talking about those that are.
In your PC mindthink you couldn’t even type the words radical Muslims without then typing otherwise to show everyone you are not a racist.
By the way, Dee wasn’t talking about me with those comments, if you read a little more closely you will see that.
1. The symbol for Islam used on the bumper sticker does not specify radical fundamentalist Muslims, but your post assumes that the people who endorse the sticker are saying something about those radicals. Do you assume that the cross is only there to represent fundamentalist Christians?
2. You also suggest that people who sport the sticker are addressing only you and other conservatives, telling you to “coexist” with others. It seems logical that, when so many types of people are represented in the symbols on the sticker, one can assume that the sticker is addressing ALL of those people. If you are a man, woman, Christian, Muslim, Jew, or believer in science, you can consider the message of tolerance. The message is not only for you, it’s for everyone.
I hardly think that the people who put this bumper sticker on their cars are in any way suggesting that they support radical Islamic terrorists. Or that they are card-carrying hippie liberals out there trying to spread love and light. Ok, the love and light thing might be true (but I happen to be a registered Republican).
I personally love this sticker. I had absolutely no thoughts whatsoever about radical Islam when I first saw “Coexist.” It just sums up what I feel about religion and personal faith.
It shouldn’t matter how, who, what, or if we worship a god, goddess or whatever higher power is or isn’t out there. The point of the sticker is that we don’t need to beat down other people because their religious beliefs aren’t like ours.
Personally, I think it’s about “being the change you wish to see in the world.” [Ghandi]
Love and Peace
Just wanted to point out that this bumper is not directed only at Americans or at Christians, but also at violent extremist Muslim terrorists. If someone is displaying the bumper sticker, they are wishing for peace and freedom for all religions, and they would absolutely tell a Muslim extremist that THEY need to coexist with you, as well as you coexisting with them. Whether you think that this kind of peace is possible or not is your own thing (of course, if this kind of peace were to happen it would only be because everyone believed in it), but this is not telling you to sit on your ass and let yourself get attacked. It’s talking about respect that EVERYONE needs to have, and I think that the small but horribly effective faction of Muslims that would want to kill people need to get a large dose of that respect! Keep in mind that this is not terrorist sympathetic, it’s PEACE sympathetic, and peace can only happen if there is no more violence involving ANY religion. It’s directed at anyone who is violent or intolerant and that includes many people of EVERY religion, including Islam.
I will give you most of the points that you have made. However I would like you to clarify one part of your post. You said:
“It’s talking about respect that EVERYONE needs to have, and I think that the small but horribly effective faction of Muslims that would want to kill people need to get a large dose of that respect!”
Please tell me that you do not mean that extreme radical Muslims who blow up people in the name of God deserve respect. I hope I am mis-interpretting your comment. Showing them any respect only legitimizes them and weakens us. They do not have respect for us nor do they deserve respect from us.