Progressive Bumper Sticker » antiwar

Books Not Bombs

The Sticker — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 18:41:37 +0000

The difference between the fiscal philosophies of conservatives and liberals essentially comes down to moral values. Conservatives are willing to cut education funding but won’t cut military spending because they think that being able to go to war is more important. Liberals are willing to cut military spending but won’t cut education funding because they think that having schools that can prepare children successfully is more important.

The bumper sticker you see here is for the liberal side of the equation. When it comes to a choice between war and words, we choose words. We choose knowledge. We choose enlightenment.

That’s why we liberals will choose the Books Not Bombs bumper sticker. We’ll work hard for education, but we’re not going to fight for war.

Muslims for Peace

The Sticker — Sat, 27 Nov 2010 23:03:41 +0000

Over at a Posterous article about Muslims for Peace, the author writes, “Religion is generally given a pass when it comes to critical thinking, and every religion, Islam included, deserves to be harshly scrutinized when it makes fantastic claims based upon the idea of special supernatural knowledge. However, there is also some care called for when it comes to the judgment of an entire group of people according to their religious identification. There are many in America these days who say that Muslims are inherently violent, but the fact is that most Muslims are quite peaceful in nature.”

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.

Dolphins for Peace

The Sticker — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 00:21:57 +0000

Are you both an anti-war activist and an environmentalist? Many progressives are. The tshirt design you see here speaks to such Americans, expressing an embrace of nature at the same time as it demonstrates opposition to war.

The shirt features a unique design: The peace sign, not as a solid graphic but as a symbol made up of dolphins swimming free.

The shirt manages to appeal to another progressive value as well: It’s made in the USA in order to avoid association with sweatshops that pollute the environment and abuse workers.

What’s more, every sale of the shirt will benefit both progressive organizations and people working in what some people refer to as “developing countries”. One dollar from every sale is donated to a progressive organization, and another dollar is added to a Kiva fund to provide microloans to people in impoverished communities seeking to establish small enterprises to improve their lives.

This microloan program proves that Americans don’t need to choose between buying goods made in the USA and supporting economic development in less wealthy nations. Sweatshops just don’t provide economic advancement of the quality that microloan investment does.