Comments on: Scarlet A Atheist Tattoo

By: xgod-free-youthx

xgod-free-youthx — Mon, 11 May 2009 05:22:13 +0000

dude im probably going to get the scarlet a tattooed on my right hand between my thumb and index finger.

By: The Science Pundit

The Science Pundit — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 19:19:35 +0000

It looks like she also has a Darwin Fish tattoo.

By: The Science Pundit

The Science Pundit — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 14:59:24 +0000

Hemant,

It appears that PZ Myers has found the owner of that tattoo (Jeanette Norman). Too bad the video came out so dark.

~Javier

By: stogoe

stogoe — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 13:41:15 +0000

Can’t you anti-tatting jihadis stay out of one thread – one frakking thread! – that mentions tattooing? We get it; you don’t want to get a tattoo. This is about people other than you, who get to make their own decisions.

By: vjack

vjack — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 13:10:10 +0000

Benjamin, you are making me feel bad about my anti-Santa Claus tattoo. Seriously though, I agree that the scarlet A is not what I’d pick if I wanted an atheist tattoo. Still, it does have one advantage and that would be that if I ever got tired of it, I could get the letters “sshole” added after it.

By: Chuck

Chuck — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 06:55:46 +0000

I decided to get this one. It will be my first tattoo. I view it as a kind of merit badge acknowledging that I have done the work that I had to do to not only reject the dogma intellectually, but also to break the habits of irrational perception that I worked so hard to form in my first 20 years. At 50, I feel that I am finally ready to wear this badge. I know I don't want red; the scarlet letter A is spoken for and I don't want to mislead. I will do black or perhaps brown, the color of earth.

By: Benjamin

Benjamin — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 02:37:39 +0000

This is silly.

Ok, you are an atheist. So what? I don’t believe in Santa Clause, but that doesn’t mean that i’m going to go out and get an anti-santa clause tattoo so everyone can be informed of my asantaclausian tendencies.

I am opposed to the branding of one’s self (tshirts, tattoos, bumper stickers, etc.) as an atheist. It only reinforces the idea that atheists are just a fringe counter-cultural element of society. Atheism should rightfully take its place as one of the normal and reasonable ways of viewing the world. I think by branding yourself as some sort of rebel, you are only reinforcing harmful cultural ideas about what it means to be atheist.

Anyway, don’t you all think that the “scarlet A” is rather poorly designed? We can definitely do better.

By: Susan B.

Susan B. — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 00:41:27 +0000

Getting a tattoo doesn’t have to be about branding, though. It can be about expressing your passion for something–and make no mistake, it’s possible to be passionate about atheism.

By: John Pritzlaff

John Pritzlaff — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 21:57:18 +0000

There is something slightly odd about a rationalist getting a tattoo. Just slightly though. It’s kind of a like a brand, and to me atheists should be quick to say that they don’t feel absolutely certain about their beliefs, and that our point of view is always open to change and criticism. We should all be somewhat “agnostic” about our atheism (I think using the word agnostic is redundant, though. People should be agnostic about everything. It doesn’t need to be pointed out or highlighted, because it should be obvious. Mostly it’s only fundamentalist religious people that don’t get this.)

However, getting a tattoo, though it’s likely to be permanent, doesn’t necessarily mean you’re not open to changing your beliefs. It just means that you’re confident about them, and that they are at least currently a part of your essence. And so I would be open to getting a scarlet A tattoo (if I weren’t scared of needles)

By: Susan B.

Susan B. — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 19:51:37 +0000

I’m sorry, but no amount of pride in being an atheist is going to get me to allow somebody to stick a needle into my flesh multiple times in order to express it. I don’t believe in suffering for my nonbelief!