This is no big deal. Sweden is an anti-Christian country. This would be like wearing anti-Osama t-shirts in the U.S:
Cheap Monday jeans are a hot commodity among young Swedes thanks to their trendy tight fit and low price, even if a few buyers are turned off by the logo: a skull with a cross turned upside down on its forehead.
Logo designer Bjorn Atldax says he's not just trying for an antiestablishment vibe.
"It is an active statement against Christianity," Atldax told The Associated Press. "I'm not a Satanist myself, but I have a great dislike for organized religion."
The label's makers say it's more of a joke, but Atldax insists his graphic designs have a purpose beyond selling denim: to make young people question Christianity, a "force of evil" that he blames for sparking wars throughout history.
This Bjorn guy is obviously a unique thinker. He's against organized religion. That's novel. Has anyone since Voltaire said anything similar, besides every college student with a chip on his shoulder?
So Bjorn is only against organized religion. I'm guessing that means he's not against religion in general. But for the life of me, I don't know what a person means when he says he's against "organized religion."
Bjorn has religious beliefs, and he's marketing them with the help of a manufacturer. The manufacturer is an organization; it is promoting a religious message, albeit an anti-religious one. Is Bjorn against it?
At what point does an individual's beliefs become part of an organization? Are two wiccans dancing around a tree part of an organization? According to Webster, the adjective "organized" primarily means "a formal organization to coordinate and carry out activities." This definition kinda begs the definitional question (by using the word "organization," which, according to W, merely means "the act of being organized"), but I think the wiccans at the tree qualify, if they come together for that purpose.
Maybe that's what Bjorn is against: people coming together for the purpose of religion. "You people can have your beliefs, but keep it to yourselves. Don't even share them with people who have similar beliefs because, once you start sharing, you start taking on the shades of an organization, and that's evil."
As the Church Lady would say, "How convenient." Organization is the key to making a difference in society and culture. If Christ hadn't established a church, His message never would have spread. If everyone keeps religion to themselves, it'll never spread. If it never spreads, it'll start to die. The result? The secularists will have the field to themselves, and eventually religion would (theoretically) die out altogether.
That's what folks like Bjorn really want, though they probably haven't thought it through. They're just against "organized" religion, see. They're not bigots. Not at all.
And I'm not going to drink any beer or watch football this weekend.
