the religious section

[quirkysmirky]

One of my jobs is as a cashier at a card shop/party store and they have a "religious" section. The thing is, it is all just a Christian theme. There is not one single item with a star of David, pentagram, Buddha, or any other religious symbol pertaining to anything other than Christianity. Maybe I am too sensitive or am overreacting, but it really bothers me and saddens me that "religious" in so many cases in this country refers to only Christian theology. I guess it probably just pisses me off because it incorrectly implies that buddhists, muslims, hindus, etc. are not "religious" and therefore not holy or moral or whatnot. It also upsets me that if I were someone of a non-Christian religion who wanted religious merchandise, I couldn't go into a store's religious section and find anything pertaining to my faith. It saddens me that people of some faiths have this option and not others. If they called it a Christian section, then I wouldn't care, but just the fact that they imply that it's a "religious" section bothers me. Any thoughts or comments?

[Seany-D]

Well, QS, one way to look at it would be from a retail perspective. It is possible that they once carried non-Xtian paraphenalia, but it did not sell. The last demographics that I saw (2001 ARIS) put this great land of ours at about 76% Xtian of some flavor, 4% Jewish/Islamic/Buddhist/other, and 14% atheist/agnostic/humanist/no religion (I have no idea where the other 6% went). When I worked back east, in a more ... cosmopolitian ... cultural and religious setting, my store carried a lot more Jewish and Islamic fare. Then again, we had both Jewish and Muslim enclaves on the west side of the city from whence I came. It is possible that they phased out the non-selling items, or never even ordered them in, having not seen a Jew/Muslim/Agnostic come into the store looking for a nice "Mazel tov on losing all that weight during your bris!" card.

Frankly, given the numbers, I find it intriguing that the Jewish and Muslim faiths are taken so seriously politically (and I am not saying that they shouldn't) when the percentage of areligious persons seems to be almost four-fold higher, yet largely neglected. How would one take them into account? By simply applying the Constitution in the secular sense under which it was written -- as a document of law, not a document of faith. However, the bulk of areligious folk in the US appear apathetic towards the Xtianization of the government. It seems to me that the Xtian majority has pushed the government from pluralism to what John Stuart Mill called "the tyranny of the majority". Many Xtians in this country cannot fathom the possibility that what religious dogma may work for them may not work for others (or even be wrong, but that's another debate). Basing law on religious faith, be it abortion, gay rights, blue laws -- what you will -- is fallacious and counterproductive in that marginalized groups will never be able to accept the philosophy underneath the law, nor, of course, should laws of any sort be based on faith. If folks wish to base their ethics and deeds on faith so be it -- I wouldn't argue the action, and honestly, I think anyone who acts on love is doing so, to take an areligious example -- but codifying it under law meant to apply to all people of the land seems unjust and jingoistic to me.

Sean "but let me know if you get any atheist xmas cards in" Davis

[quirkysmirky]

First, I must admit that I don't understand what the second half of your reply has to do with my post.
Just to clarify, I don't expect stores here in the U.S. to sell merchandise for other faiths, I am just arguing that the term "religious section" is inaccurate and should rather be labeled the "Christian section" since that is all that it is. I think it bothers me because I see it quite often and it is almost false advertising. I just saw an all-Christian section labeled "religious" in a catalogue. I had this really cute felt cut-out of Jonah about to be swallowed by the whale, the expression on Jonah's face was so funny!
Also, in this card shop (I can't call it my job any more, since tomorrow is my last day) they do have Jewish cards. They are from a card company called "Tree of Life" and they are for Jewish New Year and Channukah and they also have Jewish-themed cards for weddings, anniversaries, etc. (what exactly that means, I don't know, but there are Tree of Life cards in those sections). They also have Spanish-language cards, Mahogany (African-American themed) cards, and cards from pets. The company that ran it before also had cards for weddings, anniversaries, etc. for same-sex couples, but they don't have those anymore.

P.S. - It's cute that you called me QS, I like it!

And lastly, random smiley time:

[Seany-D]

QtotheS --

Who said that the second half of my reply had anything to do with your post? Given the opportunity to speak, there are times that I will. At great length. About whatever is on my mind.

Yes, if a store is only going to blatantly sell Xtian paraphenalia, it should be called the "Christian" section, not the "Religious" section. Were the display headers for your store (or the store for which you once peddled your retail acumen) mass produced by Hallmark-Ambassador or some other big ol' company? If so, they may only make a "Religious" header with the expectation that the local store will tailor their stock to fit the comsumer's desires. Back in Baltimore, my store carried a large selection of the Mahogany line which you mentioned ... we were located in a predominately Af-Am neighborhood. Oddly, we had a large Jewish exclave just to the north of us, but we carried no Jewish-themed cards that I recall, despite having a reasonable "ethnic" line of food that largely consisted of Jewish, soul, Italian, Asian and Middle Eastern fare (you know, I miss having "beans and greens" right about now ... soul food sticks with ya!). But, getting back on topic, I doubt that most people would balk at seeing a "religious" sign under which there would only be Xtian stuff. After all, Xtianity is religious, and it seems that the Xtians that I know, while they all consider themselves "tolerant", rarely do they take the time to understand that being tolerant means setting a place for all at the table, be they Xtian, Jew, Muslim, or even Atheist. That's the kind of spirit that I look for in my government, which should govern all, not just the Xtians, or even worse, the evangelicals that seem to think that Xtian laws, well-intentioned that they may be (well, some of the time), should apply to all and are good for all. Leviticus is not the basis for my morality.

<socially inappropriate mode = on>
Oh, and as for Jonah and the look on his felt face, it wasn't fear of being gulped down by the whale, it was just the fact that he realized he was the only man on Earth who wanted the being going down on him to spit instead of swallow. <tiddy-boom>

Thank you, I'll be here all week. Try the veal.

Sean "never would have made it as a comedian ... or a Xtian" Davis