But not about there being “no such thing as bad press”

Cameron – (IMHO)(and I was the non atheist half of the origianl duo) I think you should do anything you damm well please – None of us “own” ideas- we just “have” ideas. If other people use them – take them to market or play with them in public then that is the nature of an open market place.

I think this story applies here. When we first hear someone we say so and so said “…. ” . The next time we say, once heard so and so say this. The next time we say I’ve heard it said and the next time we say ” I once said this ”

This kind of non attribution, not being given credit and not being noticed happens to me and many of my colleagues often- it is part of the business of being public. My feeling is mostly (on my good days) to say Thanks for being given the opportunity even once to have even one of my ideas taken seriously by even a few people who probably take me more seriously than they should

As is, it seems to be a publicity stunt. Let me put it to you this way. Hemant said in his book that he didn’t know much about Xianity, because he was raised as a Jain, so in order to be fair he thought he’d explore another religion and it as it turned out, of course, being in the U.S., it was Xian. However, there are other religious groups in the U.S. You’ve done Xianity, so why not do as Hemant did and explore something different? It can’t hurt and it would be another cultural exchange and it would be more in keeping with what Hemant did, only the reverse. Go for an Eastern oriented religion. There are Buddhists, Jains, Hindus, Daoists, etc. Probably a lot more on the West coast than here in the Mid-West, so go for that, instead of going back again to what you already know. It certainly can’t hurt and it would show that former Xians are not totally turned off by ALL religions.

It is hard to see how you could be wanting anything except media attn & $$$. There is no other logical explanation. Because, the point has been made…Hermant made it already when he done it. So, it doesn’t need made again.

You say you are not out to trivialize religion and you are sincere. So, if you are sincere you need to go about this the right way. Ebay is not it.

With all of the real, honest, and backbreaking efforts being made by atheists to be taken seriously…things like this trivialize us and reinforce christian’s accusation that we are all mean, sarcastic, and ignorant.

If you want to spend your time making a real statement for atheism…do it! By all means, do it! Just, not this way man.

Of course, if everyone starts doing it you’ve got to take into account supply and demand. What would people want with atheist souls anyway? It’s not like the gods will be trading them. Atheist souls are the fat kid in the playground of souls.