3 words for you people: Chris Angel Mindfreak
I saw his show for the first time last night and low and behold what did I see at the end of his show? You guessed it – a great big red A in a circle. Check out his online store Angel store. We have to dump the Atheist Alliance International proposed new atheist symbol the A in a circle, now! Chris has obviously been using the symbol for a while, he’s liable to sue us for using a very similar one (the new symbol by AAI can be seen here , it basically a mirror image of Chris’s)
I never really liked the big red A symbol, it’s connotations of adulterer, the fact that Richards Dawkins sells the symbol on T-shirts with advertising for his web site on them, the fact the new symbol seems to be drawn backwards (try and draw this by hand, I can’t!). But after seeing Chris Angel’s Mindfreak last night, and then finding out he’s been doing this for years, I think us atheists should dump the big red A now.
The other problem I see is that Christians don’t go around with big T for Theist, or C for Christian, or I for Islamic on their web sites, T-shirts or whatever. So why the heck are we atheists using a letter anyway?
Wouldn’t it be better to use a symbol? The Christians have the cross or the fish, why not use something similar?
I’ll be hitting lots of forums and blogs over the next few days with this message, please help out.
Technorati tags: atheism, atheist, atheist symbol, Atheist Alliance International,
Oz Atheist's Weblog 
i prefer the dawkins’ image to the AAI one — but it’s NOT a mirror image of the angel logo, although very similar. yes, it’s an A in a circle, but chris angel’s circle originates from the horizontal stroke, whereas the AAI circle originates from a leg.
i prefer to see it as a capital ‘@’ sign.
Now that I’ve looked at the Angel symbol, I think you’re right. Tribbles says the new AAI silliness is NOT a mirror image, which is correct. But it’s close enough.
I think any symbol for atheists is silly. We’re not a church. We’re not a club. We’re not a group you have to join — you can be an atheist and keep entirely to yourself if you want. We don’t need symbols; we need mouths to tell people where we stand when they start hitting us over the head with their moronic beliefs.
The other problem with just declaring by fiat that such-and-such a symbol represents atheism is that none of the suggestions have a tradition. Some freethought symbols like the pansy (a play on the French word pensee, thought) have been around for a while, but very few people recognize them for what they allegedly mean. Let’s face it, though: No one has to come up to a person wearing a cross or a star of David and ask what it stands for. That’s because those symbols have been around for millennia. (The cross actually predates Christianity.)
If you must have a symbol, Oz, you can feel free to use mine. I like it because it actually says ATHEIST, so people don’t have to guess what the hell the A stands for. And the image in the symbol (Michelangelo’s God) is well enough known that no one will have to ask what that means, either.
I prefer to spell it out for the dimwitted hence , Atheist emblazoned on my sweatshirt.
There is some chaos in the search for a generally acceptable symbol for atheism! This is because we who are Free Thinkers have almost nothing in common. The real meat of the issue and the only thing of real significance is our belief in natural cause and effect. So, even a deist could welcome a common symbol with us if he believed in a god who does not answer prayers and just sits up there and doing nothing.
We include people who believe in “spirits” but not “gods”, according to the definitions. We include hedonistic heathens and conservative moralists.
So the problem really is that we need a common world view and way of thinking that is based entirely on natural cause and effect. Unfortunately, that does not exist in our confused secular belief system. It has been corrupted by 17th century ideals, Marxist philosophy, and above all social science theory compromising with liberalized Christian doctrine.
The way to solve this in a way we atheists can come together and out of the closet is to reinterpret the whole of social science so that is is not compromised. This has been done in a new book just out titled “Destiny and Civilization”. It is the best hope for the future now going on anywhere. . .
(Hey, Charles . . . if you happen to stop by my atheist blog, the wording in your blurb-dishonestly-disguised-as-commentary had better be markedly different from how it appears here. I don’t take too kindly to book-spammers. Just thought I’d warn you.)
Oz, I just noticed this, almost a year too late. I think the “adultery” connotation of the red “A” symbol is deliberate . . . the symbol is a reference to the novel The Scarlet Letter.
…to bad, AV. I like to make informed comments and do it all the time, have for years. I do mention my book, but that is up to you. I like your forum, but I have plenty of them to choose from and not enough time to do them all. . . .
charles
As an atheist and free thinker I think we do need a universal symbol. The red stylized “A” is becoming the most recognizable symbol for atheism. Since it is becoming so then we should keep it and not change it. I do however like the open atom symbol with and A in the center better.