Christians who understand their own religion understand that prayer isn’t supposed to work like that. Jesus urged his followers not pray loudly in public, seeking to gain attention for themselves, but to keep it private. Rick Perry’s prayer rally made Christianity into a caricature.

You know better than to fall for the profane shenanigans of the latest Texas Governor. Join Christian Voters Against Rick Perry.

While Baker works painstakingly to preserve chemically volatile vinyl stickers in separated layers of plastic and archival silicone-release or alkaline papers, she also has traced the history of bumper stickers back to her home state of Kansas and screenprinter Forest P. Gill. Initially, Gill’s car stickers printed on paper, but were more liable to slough off in nasty weather, even with the application of protective wax or varnish. So Gill introduced self-adhesive vinyl to the automotive world, and the rest is history.

It’s natural, then, that Otherkin would enter the political sphere in support of the re-election of Barack Obama as President in 2012. Otherkin are the ultimate in cultural minorities – so free in their identities as to call into question their own full humanity, recognizing a very alternative sense of self.

This bumper sticker speaks for their original input into the American political process: Otherkin for Obama 2012.

It’s an interesting choice, because, like Barack Obama, Krampus gets a bad rap from right wing religious extremists. Obama isn’t a Muslim Communist terrorist, and Krampus isn’t an evil devil.

Krampus is mighty mischevious, but he’s not Satan – he’s not in the Christian pantheon officially at all. He’s a native European mythological figure who is associated with trickster stories and the ages-old horned god motif. These stickers give pagans, and others who seek a nature-based path, a way to access the 2012 re-election campaign that’s honest to themselves.

Wear one of these stickers on your shirt, and you’ll be confident that no one you meet will have seen them before.

These words reflect the delicate position that progressives take when it comes to Islam, Muslims, and peace. Progressives, if they are intellectually consistent, are skeptical, not just of political leaders but of religious leaders as well. They’re not in any sort of mood to accept Islam, with its absolutist positions.

However, when the hard right advocates American war against Islam, alarm bells go off for us progressives as well. We value the separation of church and state, for one thing, and aren’t inclined to go along with wars against entire religions.

Besides that, progressives recognize diversity within cultural groups as well as between cultural groups. For that reason, we just don’t buy the warmongers’ propaganda that Muslims are all foaming at the mouth for war. We recognize the reality of Muslims for Peace.

The bumper sticker you see here recognizes that reality as well. Word to you Muslims out there: It’s a great tool for countering the stereotype of Muslims as nasty, universally violent people.

It features the Islamic symbol of the crescent and star, but with another symbol behind it: The peace sign. Together, they make the sign of Muslims for Peace.

Whether he’s threatening to murder a particular person who bothers him or telling an entire group they’re not as good as he is, Carl Paladino is like the worst of the playground bullies, posing and flexing and spouting off, completely out of control. It’s only embarrassing in a campaign, but just imagine how bad it would be for New York State in practical terms if this man took the helm. Decades ago, most of the rest of us who live here in New York got past Paladino’s Me-Me-*!#$-Me variety of bigotry. We understand that no matter how different we look from one another we’re all in this together. Hatred does not represent New York in spirit. Hatred should not represent New York in the Governor’s office.

Say no to Carl Paladino for Governor.

To have an International Blasphemy Day would seem oxymoronic, since blaspheming is an act of individual rebellion against a religious system that insists there can be no violation of its self-interested thought barriers. Blasphemy shouldn’t be an organized activity — it should be without limits, not restricted to One Official Day.

But this is a different day. It’s International Blasphemy Rights Day. And when there are tens of thousands of religious bodies in the United States — and millions of religious organizations around the world — dedicated to imposing their religious strictures on everyone else, all to prevent people from questioning the veracity of their often quite wacky suppositions, then by gum there needs to be some organization to push back a little bit, and in order to do it right some organization is called for. This is organization to defend my right, your right, all our rights to believe what we believe and to say out loud what we don’t believe.

You have a right to blasphemy. And if you believe that you have the right, you need to stand up for it.

The current anti-mosque crusade is just the newest part in Evangelical Christianity’s agenda of intolerance. The Christian Right may have a smile on its face, but its message is pure hate. This bumper sticker represents that attitude pretty well, with an evangelist who stands before you, with a happy face, holding a crucifix, asking, You don’t mind if I cram this down your throat a little bit, do you?

Do you mind? Golly, but I sure do.

It is much more rare for people to be skeptical of religion categorically. Yet, the Irregular Heresies collection comes close to this skeptical idea. They’re not out merely to promote their own gods over someone else’s. They’re skeptical and satirical of all divine beings and theologies – and skewer faith of all varieties, with verbal violence only, on a collection of heretical bumper stickers.

They’re mocking Jesus – Jesus, Schmeesus.

They’re profane for the Hindus and Buddhists too, singing Brahma Lama Ding Dong and declaring that Ganesha works for peanuts. Be Here Now, Bucko is the closest they get to Enlightenment.

They are infidels to Islam’s self-seriousness as well, challenging, Fatwa This!

My favorite strikes at the root of monotheism: Zoroaster Was A Disaster.

One bumper sticker sums up this perspective: Your sacred cow is my hamburger. No one entitled to expect that everyone else will show reverence for their supernatural beliefs. People will disagree with you. Pray on that for a while.

It’s an atheist bumper sticker scheme that promises to deliver you the following simple atheist / skeptical message: I Don’t Believe. It’s available free from NewsBusters!

But, NewsBusters is a Christian-dominated, right wing web site. Why would it be giving away an atheist bumper sticker like this for free?

Well, it isn’t. Over at Irregular Times, they’re suggesting that you create the atheist bumper sticker from the free right wing media whining bumper sticker shown below. Just take a pair of scissors, and voila! The “liberal media” cliche is gone!

Spread the word to help defund a bunch of right wing windbags. Be a bumper buster!