Written by Lance Steinhibel
I’m sure all of us have seen countless religious stickers too, which is not a bad thing. I never really think too much about them, but I started to see one bumper sticker more than others it seemed lately. I started seeing the “COEXIST” one everywhere. It’s normally blue, and has a bunch of religious symbols that resemble the letters that spell out “coexist”. Well I started thinking about it, and at first I was like, “that’s not possible: I believe that Jesus is the way to heaven.” So what is this guy with the bumper sticker thinking? Maybe he is just playing the odds and putting bets on everything hoping to catch a piece of something. But the more I thought about it, the more it made sense to me. So over the next couple weeks, I began paying attention to Christians who would react to this sticker, complaining about how wrong it was.
I heard people saying, “How dare they even think to put the cross next to any other symbol!” and “Guys, we should be calling our pastors about this.” Instead of agreeing with them, I began to ask a few why they were so mad. Every response was some variation of, “other religions are wrong, so why should we have to coexist with them?” They were missing the point of it all, and it drove me crazy. They missed everything about loving one another as yourself, kindness, and understanding. I’m not saying every religion is right, but what I am saying is that if you ever want the opportunity to share with someone the love of Jesus, you must be first be open to hear what they believe in and what matters to them. Look at the life of Paul in the New Testament; he knew exactly what all the other religions were doing in that time, and what they believed. It’s not about who is right, and who is wrong. It’s about showing people love and respect for what they believe in and what they are passionate about. That doesn’t mean you have to agree with them, just respect them.
I decided to look up the meaning of “COEXIST” and what it means for owners of the ever-popular decal… and I was pleasantly surprised with what I found. One explanation stated “COEXIST is a way to demonstrate your support of religious freedom, tolerance and understanding.” Now I don’t think that’s very evil, it actually sounds like something I would love to have for what I believe. Another was “to encourage others in a greater religious understanding of other’s distinctive faiths, beliefs and practices. To promote friendship, goodwill and mutual trust among them.” Again, I am not seeing anything too scary evil or making me want to call my pastor and get him on the lookout for these crazy people.
If Christians believe in love, then we have to love everyone, even those who believe in different gods. Because honestly, why would anyone want to hear about our God and beliefs, if we don’t even care enough to care about theirs?
Other Articles: “Does Jesus COEXIST?”
“Poking Holes in the COEXIST Movement”
I generally agree with this article. I’m not one to jump to the same conclusions as the “Christians” mentioned in the article. I don’t see the point in calling my pastor. What is he gong to do about it? I don’t care if the cross is put next to other symbols. I believe the Bible when it says that Jesus is the only way to the Father (and heaven).
What I always thought whenever I see this sticker is that the person wanted all religions to get along and that they thought that there were many ways to heaven. You already know what I think about how to get to heaven. As for the other I find it interesting that someone would think that these different religions could get along. You have Islam, Judaism, Wiccan/Pagan, Yin&Yang, and Christianity…with a peace symbol and the symbol for male/female.
Looking at core characteristics of these religions….Islam wants to eliminate people who are not Islam…especially Jews and Christians. This goes back to the story of Abraham.
Judaism and Christianity are SOOO close, Judaism is still looking for the Messiah.
Wiccan/Pagan is pretty much anti Jesus/God and maybe Allah too but I don’t know for sure.
As Christians were are to love all and live lives that demonstrate the love that God has for all people. We haven’t done a good job of that.
Unfortunately Christians have the reputation of being “closed minded” and not wanting to be “in the world”.
I’m starting to go off on a random rabbit trail. So I will just say that as Christians we should be interacting with all people. We should be influencing those people with our lives. If all we do is run and tell the pastor what good is that going to do?
So…yeah, I agree with this article
Wow, it’s great to see Matt chime in…”see matt, it’s not that hard, you can write an article.”
Lance, I gotta say I totally pull the “what do they look like?” game. I find myself expecting that they will look goofy or out of touch…and that is totally due to some unexplained emotion caused by the sticker….
It’s just the same as when i see Mcdonalds run ads that make their food look healthy…I get a little annoyed. I want people to know that the actors in the mcdonalds commercials were paid to look happy, and they starve themselves and work out everyday in order to get chosen for the commercial….With the Coexist sticker, I’m not offended or insecure…it’s that I want that person to know how available the one true God is to them. But there in lies the problem….”I want…” In the end, you gotta roll “Lance style” when it comes to ministry. Cause people are much smarter than they may appear, and a bumper sticker will only distract you.
Ahh, Lance, the chance to actually engage in debate about things said via bumper sticker. Very smart. My view is that there are many bumper stickers like Coexist that really have the potential for leaving folks in a huffy puffy state. I do agree with your viewpoint about the need to get to know people before getting in their face about this one… Read More. Imagine if you are proud of our nation and you put one of our early flags on your car (Union Flag) What do people assume about you? About what the driver looks like, I assume the driver looks like Bono of course. And what I would rather see is the “give peas a chance” sticker but I guess that shows my age. Overall great article and it reminds me I have so much to learn about what people look like (on the inside).
Hey man I read your article and I agree with most of it, but I’m still fuzzy on just one point. I’m down with the missionary aspect and the respect, I do that. What I’m fuzzy on is what the goal is in your eyes. Yeah we respect people and get to know them, but is your goal in doing that in the end to give them Christ, or just to be friends regardless? If you ask the people who made the sticker, they say it doesn’t matter lets just run together regardless cuz it’s all true to each other (which is where I disagree). But if you know, as I do, that in the end we want to give them Christ respectfully, then I agree with you. But if it’s just “yeah it’s all well and good so lets just set it all aside,” then I disagree. What are YOUR thoughts?
I don’t always disagree with the people who stick it on their bumper cuz maybe to them it means something different, but I do disagree with the people who made it and what intend it to stand for. Their goal isn’t Christ, it’s equality. But maybe you stick it on your car for the sake of respect and that’s cool, it’s just not the original intention of the makers of the sticker.
Hey Lance,
Good article. 🙂 One of the guys I am interning with this summer has a “Coexist” bumper sticker and it is funny watching people look at it in a church parking lot… They always do a double take.
Even though the makers of the “Coexist” bumper sticker do not intend what your article is saying… that in order to bring people to Christ, you have to understand where they are coming from… I think it is a good way to do so. I’m not a fan of bumper stickers, in general… in my opinion they’re just tacky. But my friend who has the “Coexist” sticker is intentional about it and has a reason for having it on his car.
But yea, good thoughts. 🙂
Emily
Lance,
I totally agree with the motive of this article to conclude that all religions lead to heaven. People get so caught up in, “there is only one way to heaven and that’s Jesus,” so it’s nice to know there are true believers out there.
COEXIST!
I read your article too. It bothers me when you say that “They were missing the point of it all, and it drove me crazy. They missed everything about loving one another as yourself, kindness, and understanding.” What are we exactly missing the point of? Where in the Bible does anyone open his or her mind to another religion in order to witness to someone? You mention how it wasn’t about who’s right and who’s wrong to Paul. I can’t disagree more. Paul often spoke out against those who were opposed to the message of Jesus Christ. Read II Timothy 3:6-9, Philippians 3:2-3, Galations 1: 6-10 as evidence of this. Peacemonger.org is the group that supports the Coexist bumper sticker. I was looking through their website because I want to give them the benefit of the doubt. I found something that was very alarming and I urge you to be cautious about promoting the bumper sticker among Christians. This is from founder Jerry Jaspar: “With the anguished exit of the Bush administration, and a palpable spirituality in the air – such a deep thirst on the part of the masses for real change…” I take this as anti-Christian rhetoric that is not appropriate at all. President Bush, regardless of your political views towards him, is an evangelical Christian. The only thing I gathered from their website was that it is an organization with a liberal agenda seeking to achieve peace through tolerance and love. Yes we need tolerance and love; I am not saying we don’t. I am saying that when tolerance and love become the focus and the message of Jesus does not, there is a problem. As Christians, we cannot water down the gospel in order to win people to Christ. We also cannot be a part of organizations who are only about tolerance and love. There is a battle for truth, this Coexist movement seeks to establish relativism and undermine absolutes.
First I have to address Greg’s comment, I was not saying in the article that I believe that all religions lead to heaven. I was trying to make a point that the sticker does not imply that all religions lead to heaven. I do believe that what the bible says is truth, and the only way to heaven is through Jesus dying on the cross for our sins. I am really glad that you read the article, I hope that it does not mean that you dont like what it had to say, now that I have said this.
Ok, on to the next comment from Jacob. First off, thank your for reading my email, and taking the time to read my article and comment on it. On to what I was saying about paul, and his knowledge on other religions. Its shows all throughout his books when he is writing to the different cities he talks about things that are going on with other religions, and urges the churches and believers to not take part in it. He had to have a working knowledge and understanding of other religions to make these claims. And I never said anything about watering down the bible. All I am trying to say is that most of the time we need to shut our mouths when talking to others about God, and listen to what they have to say. When we do that we will have a better understanding of the other person, and what their needs are.
you know the scientologists believe that all religions can coexist and still be scientologists. I believe chrisitans should not get so worked up over a bumper sticker. I remeber when a pastor told me that he say a bad religion bumpoer sticker with the no sign around the cross and he told me how bad they were and that i should never listen to them. As christians we need to spend more time spreading the love and words of christ and stop hating everythign we disagree with. So many people dont even want to look at the idea od christ because of the actions of christians and how they seem to oppose everything.
Hey Lance,
Good first article! I can tell from the responses so far that the concept of “Coexist”-ing could indeed be spread around a little more. People should keep in mind the literal definition of Coexist: “To live in peace with another or others despite differences, especially as a matter of policy.” It does seem reasonable to want Christians, Muslims, Jews, Buddhists, Hindus, and even hippies to live peacefully with each other.
And I agree with you that it’s good to know what people from other religions actually believe. I would dare every Christian to make friends with a Muslim. Just for the sake of being friends with them. You may be surprised how many of them want to get along with you and do not feel a need to wipe your religion, along with the Jews, off the face of the earth. You could also read up on the news in the Middle East and see that the vast majority of Muslims do not believe that the militant brand of Islam supported by conservative Muslim extremists reflects core Muslim values at all. But I realize that a lot of people consider reading too much work, and would be more likely to take my dare to make a Muslim friend.
I really don’t think that people should ever make friends with someone just because they want to convert them to Christianity. That doesn’t seem like a true friendship to me. And if you’re worried about the whole heaven and hell thing, just remember that the Bible doesn’t say that people save people. It says God does that. Anyway, I’m glad you got some discussion going Lance!
I know the owner of this. If you care to hear their thoughts let me know and I will see what I can arrange.
-Sean
Lance – you make a good point. I would have to agree, that many of us who are supposed to following Jesus often miss the point (myself included). Sure, I may not agree with everything that this bumper sticker (and the belief system behind it) was intended to communicate, but that’s not really the point, is it? The point is to be who Jesus calls us to be in the midst of these belief systems that we may or may not agree with — to be followers of Him. And, at least for me, when I start to get defensive and argue against beliefs I don’t agree with, I start to lose His heart for the people following those beliefs.
I think that this article shares a lot of insight. I think my first impression of a sticker like that would be that “all religions lead to heaven” or the ever growing, “there is no right religion, go what ever way you think is best. Just don’t push your beleifs on me.” As a Christian I don’t think I would endorse the sticker on my car. However, I do think you’re on to something. It’s about judging by the cover.
Excellent points, Lance! I must admit, at work I see a car in the parking garage every so often with this, and the first couple times I reacted poorly. But then I realized, I’m reacting poorly to a message of peacefulness, free-will choice, and tolerance of others. It’s more of a ‘Golden Rule’ statement, treat other as you wanted to be treated. I don’t want to be abused or hurt because of my choices and beliefs, nor should I want to belittle or hurt others as a result. I follow Jesus, and from what I can tell, the only religious entities Jesus went on the offensive with were the ‘right’ religion that birthed Him, and not all the others. And Paul on Mars Hill didn’t denegrate people for having faith and seeking God(s), but provided additional insight and truth via the Statue of the Nameless God.
Ultimately, the battle we fight is not with other people and their (God-mandated and graced) choices and decisions, but with an invisible enemy who seeks to sow war, dischord, conflict, and destroy all of us. Our job is to love people, respect them as we want them to respect us, do good like Jesus, and teach/inform others as best we can to allow people to make informed choices. At the end of the day, I’d rather have mutual respect and agree-to-disagree in a foundation of love, rather than bloodshed.
you made your point well regarding the sharing love and respect… i think it’s important for anyone we speak to, to know that we’re not there to hear ourselves talk but to listen to what others say and the meaning behind them. and i agree with nathan, i’d rather agree-to-disagree than smother my opponent with self-righteousness and holier-than-thou… and just share Jesus’s love… because that’s what it’s really about… which, i believe is the whole message of the bumper sticket anyway.
I never understood the bumper sticker, frankly I just ignored it hah.
And I am one of those cars who u tell a lot about by my bumper. What with my blue tape on ym back windshield that says “You are beautiful” to my NOTW sticker that says “Prayer changes things” and then my “Can’t Ignore the Poor” sticker and “TOMS” and “End genocide in Uganda NOW” and “the Rescue April 25th” and “I am PRO-LIFE” duct tape. It makes me happy when people turn their heads to look at me when they pass and maybe smile or thumbs up. Or to look in my rear view at stop lights to see people squinting their eyes to read my bumper.
Anyways. shameless self promotion of my lil red saturn.
I think you made a great point that as followers of Jesus we are called to LOVE EVERYONE no matter what their bumper sticker says and no matter what belief they have and we need to learn to coexist in this world peacefully with them.
Hey, I like your article. I think that you bring up some great points. Some Christians struggle with the sticker saying that it is endorsing other religions. I choose to look at it another way; if we are ever going to reach others, don’t we have to first come to them instead of expecting them to come to us. That is what Jesus did. If we want to reach others from different religions, we must first embrace them, and then be able to share the love of Jesus. That is what the sticker means to me. We can be voices of love and peace, or we can be like the crusaders and kill others who don’t believe what we do. Which one works out better? Okay, I’m being a bit extreme, but I think that we have all seen that love and tolerance go a lot farther than Bible beating.
Thanks for writing!
This is a great discussion. I really appreciate the balance of love and truth. I am a pastor looking at preaching from Mark 6:1-13 this week. On the one hand Jesus instructs his disciples not to be the offense – and so he tells them don’t hop from house to house in a town looking for a better offer and don’t take a bag – probably a collection bag. They are to go out preaching repentance and healing people. What a great mission. And if their message is rejected they are to move on. But what interests me in this passage is the front end of Mark 6 – Jesus doesn’t even seem to be able to coexist with his family and home community. They are scandalized by him. Earlier in Mark the Pharisees (religious right) and the Herodians (religious left) join forces to try and kill him. The Scribes accuse him of being in league with the devil. Jesus doesn’t seem to be able to peacefully coexist with anyone. Why? The reason seems to be that he keeps making rather outstanding claims about the need to have faith in him. He is more than a moral teacher telling us to love each other. He certainly communicates that and instructs his followers to bless others, and Jesus Himself loves people as no one else in history ever has. But he is emhatic regarding the issue of faith and the Kingdom being about him and this seems to be what made him so unpopular such that others did not want to coexist with him. What do we say to this? I’d love your reflections.
Grace in Christ
This all seems a bit silly. As another bumper sticker reads, “The Bible was written by the same people who said the earth was flat,” and they got many other facts wrong as well. So, clearly, “The Bible” can’t be “The Truth.” You need to get over yourselves.
The beautiful thing about this sticker is that it is completely open to interpretation. I’ve read so many different opinions on this design and not one of them is wrong! This is by far our best design; however, stop by the site and check out our symbolglyphic designs that come in more than just stickers! We have different variations on Coexist and our Tolerance design runs a close second to Coexist.
Dan (dan@peacemonger.org)
Peacemonger.org
(559) 741-1668
Did the Christians in the earlier church merely coexist peacefully with non-believers? The answer is no because how can two walk together unless they be agreed. I am respectful of others and whoever they choose to believe in but the issue is that there is only One that truly existed to pay the penalty for mankind’s sin. Therefore, I will not plaster a bumper sticker on my car with the Cross at the end of it all. He is Alpha an Omega. I stand firm on my faith and I caution other Christians to do the same. This world is trying to filter down the Gospel to make it easier for them to handle but unfortunately it is causing Christians to merely coexist and not take a stand. God said to be hot or cold for him.
Way to go!
some people have posted bad blogs about the sticker stating how much they can’t stand it!
all i say is to understand the sticker isn’t trying to get you to beleive in the other’s but to accept them and live amongs them in a peacefull non judgmental way!
Great post!
A.H. – you are DEAD ON RIGHT … I could not have expressed it any better or clearer.
To Really?
The Bible was written through inspiration of God. Further, the Bible consitently refers to the earth as a globe. Only in poetic passages are terms used that might be taken otherwise. For example, in Rev. 7:1 the verse refers to angels standing at the four corners of the earth. This is a reference to the cardinal directions of north, south, east and west. Job 26:7 refers to the earth being suspended in space. Job 26:10 refers to the circle of the earth as does Isaiah 40:21-22. Perhaps you should stop listening to uninformed critics and read God’s Word for yourself. You might learn something of eternal importance.
I don’t think the bumper sticker means that all faiths lead to heaven, just that we should all do our best to get along and treat each other well, no matter what religious path someone follows. It’s the same idea as getting along with others that are from different cultures, or have a different skin color.
People just take it to literally, that it means that all faiths are ok or right. It just advocates peace, equality, and tolerance of all faiths. Nothing wrong with that.
I am always amazed at the hypocrisy of Christians. Wow. You believe your way is the only way. How wonderful for you. Others think THEIR way is the only way. And now you belittle and get angry over a bumper sticker preaching tolerance and love. Hmmm, didn’t your boy Jesus preach that too?
Oh, right. You Christians don’t need to FOLLOW Jesus’ rule – only try to push it onto others.
Gotcha.
Interesting. Question, some of the people who replied to this article have mentioned the “hypocricy” of christians,and some had mentioned that christians are viewed as close minded, and they are pushing thier beliefs on people. Many points to that, is telling me its wrong to force my beliefs on other people forcing a belief on me? You see, many people tell me to stop pushing my christian beliefs on them, which in order to do so they must have a belief im doing something wrong, then push it on me by telling me to stop.ISNT TELLING ME TO BE OPEN MINDED AND TO COEXIST FORCING YOUR BELIEF TO COEXIST ON ME? Anyone who tells a christian they arent coexisting is doing exactly what they accused that christian of. That is hypocritical. Another thing is do not tell me that not agreeing with this article is being close minded because if you are to honestly call yourself open minded you would have to open your mind towards people who are close minded. Do you not see that when i call other faiths wrong and you call me close minded you are having a closed mind towrds my closed mindedness? That is pretty hypocritical you close minded hypcocrits.
Also there is a problem with putting the cross next to other symbols because the cross is the one that is more. my savior sacrificed himself dieing a horrible, terrible death for me on that cross. No other symbol can make that claim so it is offensive to put my symbol on the same level as other symbols. Lastly your reference to Paul was abit flawed, you mentioned that he loved people and showed respect, which is a true statement, but you are wrong in saying it had nothing to do with them being right wrong. The majority of Pauls evangelism was because people believed in something WRONG and lived WRONG and he wanted to show them who Christ was because everyone on the side of Christ knows the TRUTH. (John 18:37)
Ultimately, the coexist bumper sticker is not about being openminded because that cant be done for they would have to be open minded and accept peoples decision to not be open minded which clearly is not carried out. The bumper sticker is a way for people to believe what they want to believe, and force their beliefs on me to accept it. Tolerance does not equal violence, i can always love and respect someone without being tolerant of thier beliefs. which was noted, but to then tell me not to force my beleifs on people through a bumper sticker is forcing a belief on me, and i will not stand by for that secular hypocricy. Nor should anyone else who stands with Christ on the side of TRUTH.
I saw the COEXIST bumper sticker for the first time this past weekend. I, like Lance, wanted to see the driver. She turned out to be a middle aged woman like myself. What I really wanted from her was to know where she got the sticker and how I could get one for myself. I realized that if I hopped out of my vehicle at a red light to tap on her window I would probably scared her and tied up traffic both of which would be wrong. So instead I waited until I was home and googled it (today).
I read all of the posts ahead of me and love that one bumper sticker could generate so much discussion – the first step to coexisting.
When my daughter was young and wanted me to explain GOD to her I was given a book titled “What is God?”. It’s a wonderful children’s book that explains that there are many religions and many beliefs. Coexist sums it up for me.
I enjoyed the debate/discussion. I would like to point out that there are several versions of this sticker. Personally, I wouldn’t get it because of the Wicca symbol, but i found one that did not include it, which I ordered. Just read descriptions carefully.
We’ll I totally made my mother crawl out of her skin with my t-shirt. She told me it was anti-god and that it ment one thing and one thing only. Well I was with a bunch of family when I wore my shirt, and every one else in the room thought that it was a very cool statement. To me I do wear it to get a reaction out of the one way only “christians”, but to me it’s more of a statement to mankind…If we do not learn a way to get along then there will never be peace. One of my aunts asked if I knew any one from muslim countrys that wore a shirt like this and yes I do. Who ever you want to believe or follow we all have to learn to work together to make this world a better place!
I like this definition, “COEXIST is a way to demonstrate your support of religious freedom, tolerance and understanding”. For about a year now, I’ve been cultivating a quality friendship with the local Imam (Muslim leader) in my community. As I drove up to the mosque for the first time I was so nervous, I even passed by once or twice, thinking, “maybe I should’ve thought this out a little more”. All the media driven messages of islam that were in my head began to surface; the thoughts were so strong I amlost backed out. Thank God, that I sucked it up and walked through that door with a sign on it that said, men’s entrance, which was the first cultural difference that I would observe that day. Next, when I got into the building there were lots of shoes everywhere, so I took mine off. Then, I walked in to the men’s restroom and there was a sign that read, “please sit down to pee.” And yes, I sat down. After all this I walked in to the prayer room and sat down on the back wall. I stayed there for the entire prayer service and teaching. Afterwards I was approached by the Imam, who i had previously emailed to inquire about visiting. We stayed there for four hours talking about life and getting to know one another. He asked, “why did you want to come visit us?” So, I told him I had come because I didn’t believe the media portrayal of muslims and I wanted to learn more about their culture. Since then I have been invited to share meals and even break fast with them during Ramadan. I share this story, because I do believe it is very important for us to be tolerant and understand other religions and the people that practice them. In doing this I had to be very sensitive and be careful of my motives. Christians a lot of the time emphasize sharing Jesus with others, and I didn’t want that to be my motive. I didn’t want to go there to get ’em all “saved”. I really just wanted to make some muslim friends. For me, as a follower of Christ, that is what it means to COEXIST!!
Oh what sheltered lives you all have lived! Speaking as one who has been jailed for the faith, ( in America) ( 15 times in Multnomah County, 9 times in Washington County, 7 times in Marion County)
all these counties are in Oregon. Having had the joy of experiencing pain compliance holds while trying to comply and glorious sensation of a night stick to the ribs, to being left in a cement cell for 12 hours in the dark realms of solitary confinement before being processed. To being ordered by several judges to discontinue my activities of preaching against things like hmmm, Sin.
Or how about being thrown out of and eating establishment that has a big banner across there wall proclaiming that they honor Diversity because they KNOW you are a Christian and are very uncomfortable with your mere presence and so they refuse to serve you and demand quite loudly that you leave.
The Apostle Paul and I have quite a bit in common. The reason you feel no fear, and like the concept of Co existing is that you enjoy the lukewarmness of your surroundings and you are in Hiding like the lionshare of what calls themselves Christians. Your ideals of being radical are some what lacking and the reason no one wants to hear about your god is because he isnt real.
To Jeff,
I would like to start off by thanking you for taking the time to read my article. Im not sure if you will read this, but I hope that you do. I guess that I am confused as to why you think that I dont serve God, is it because I believe that the best way to show my faith to someone is to show them love? Maybe I miss read the scripture that talks about loving one another as ourselves. Who knows? I have been doing ministry for a long time, and have never been thrown in jail, so maybe thats why your pissed at me. Im not sure, maybe I could give you some pointers on how not to get thrown jail. But Im sure you just think that still living a lukewarm life for not wanting to be jailed.
Good points Lance… I didn’t have time to read all of these comments, but I do think that you brought up some really solid stuff in your piece. I see too many people getting caught up in the rules and images of religion (namely, Christianity, because it’s all I’m exposed to) and I sense a lack of true spirituality and the non-judgmental love that Christians should be known for. “They’ll know we are Christians by our love” is an inspiring passage to me, but I see a lot of people who don’t seem to be living by it. I think it’s a beautiful thing to be open and accepting of other beliefs, to be tolerant and peaceful with those different than ourselves… to me, it could be the solution to so much violence and oppression we see around us. Also, I’ve done a bit of research on these religions… and they really all have the same principles at the heart of it. Whether or not there is a god, a prophet, a certain form of prayer or holy book, all of these religions focus on internal enlightenment and doing good for others and the world around us. This, to me, is the most beautiful and important calling that humans experience. Jesus’ golden rule of treating others as you’d like to be treated is a cardinal virtue for living a pure and productive life, so why would we want to be intolerant of others who are striving to do the same thing?
This original version of the COEXIST design is a hope. It is an intention, meditation, and a prayer. I had no idea when I designed the above SymbolGlyhic(TM) design it would create such a stir! In my creative mind, it was not ever to have been associated as much with religions, as with humanity as a whole. The “e” for instance, was designed to represent PEACE within the sexes, as in “don’t hit your wife, husband, or kids!” (Many have taken the “e” to represent gays’ rights, which is fine with me. If it moves you in a certain direction you may make it your own!) Religions over the ages have come into being as a means to express adoration of the divine aspects of nature, humanity being a significant part of it. Many deities are the creations of the primitive mind to explain why the sun goes down at night. So many philosophies and religions over a vast landscape of humanity inevitably will evolve drastically differing viewpoints and beliefs. It is true that so many followers of wise human prophets get so caught up in their particular system of belief that they lose the bigger picture. They lose even their particular prophets’ teachings and fight violently to force their beliefs on the ‘non-believer.’ It seems I have become a part of somewhat of a vortex in creating this design in that it is bringing much of this partisanship to the surface. I give thanks that it also is evidently accomplishing it’s original purpose of bringing many diverse notions of faith together. I leave this comment/article unfinished for now, due to time and space needs of my own… and hope to polish it up later. I’m open to comment directly at my work number at Peacemonger.org (www.peacemonger.org – (559) 799 8801)
As for Christianity as a whole, which seems to be the main complaint source of the notion of COEXISTENCE and RESPECT between specific human faiths, I’ll just throw it out there that it would be respectful to call your prophet by his correct and factual name, which was Yashua, not Jesus. (If the second coming were today, and people called “Jesus” to save them, he would not recognize it as his name, since it was not his name.) No disrespect intended. Just the fact.
To Lance: YOU GET IT. THANK YOU!!
Someone mentioned in an earlier post that “wiccans/pagans don’t believe in God..” I consider myself neo-pagan and I absolutely do believe in God. I do not believe in the devil, as Christians do. Just wanted to clarify that because I think it’s a common misconception.
Ephesians 5:8 (New International Version)
8For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light
Romans 12:2 (The Message)
Romans 12
Place Your Life Before God
1-2 So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.
We all are made of this Earth. We all see the sun rise and set, watch the phases of the moon, drink the same water that has been recycled over and over again, we all have to eat, sleep, breathe,poop, and have the ability to reproduce. We were all born of the same source, we are People of the Earth…that is our tribe. We must co-exist. The only way to heal the Earth is to first heal ourselves. Respect for ourselves and others is essential for this to happen. We should honor all tribes and religions for they are truly what makes up our Mother Earth.
To Nancy (#39). Sorry girl. Satan, the devil and demons are real. Don’t be fooled. Look around you to see the devil’s doing. I have experienced his work in my life. Thank God that there is power in the blood of Jesus. If you believe in God (good), how can you not believe in the Devil (evil). These are tricks of the enemy.
So I’m a little late to the party (discussion), but I figured I’d put my two sense in as well…
I’m a student and frequently I’ve seen this “coexist” bumper sticker on cars around campus as I walk through the parking lot. At first my initial thoughts were, “the sticker is just a front for some ultra left movement or some hippie movement or free-love stuff.” However, during my long walks through campus I’ve thought a lot about the meaning of it. I’m a Christ Follower. I put it that way, because I believe that the world associates “christians” as close minded, judgmental and hypocritical people (to some extent we are). When I see the “coexist” sticker this is what I think:
“I know what I believe in and I know that the true path to salvation is jesus christ. I realize that others have other view points that run parallel or completely opposite to my own. However, I will treat them with respect because they are human beings. If they do have a different religion than I do then it is my job as a follower of christ to reach out a helping hand to them and accept them for who they are, regardless if I agree with their religious views or not. I may or may not share my religion with them and I welcome a discussion about their religious beliefs, and if by chance they listen to me and accept some of the things they hear then thats great. I’ve won someone over to christ by showing the kindness he would have shown them himself”
I’m not necessarily advocating a utopian world where we sit around a camp fire and sing “kum bya” or anything. But rather accepting people for their religious differences and maybe we can learn from each other. Its not like we’ve been on this earth for thousands of years or anything.
I’m not really sure how to end this comment, but I’m open for discussion with anyone. I take the stance that all people are human beings and needed to be treated like they are first and foremost.
The only absolute truth is that none of us can know what exists on the other side. I am humble to my creator God, whomever she or he may be. I can not know more than God. I can not judge others to be right or wrong, true or false. All I can do is be still and find the peace within. Peace to you my brothers and sisters. Peace.
First of all, I believe we should love and respect all of God’s “creation”, and, as much as it depends on us, live in peace. But, we can’t possibly all be right. You can’t be hot and cold at the same time. You can’t be in the light, yet in the dark at the same time. We can’t walk in the same direction, yet you enter into a room while I exit it, at the same time. So to all who “choose” not to believe the Bible as God’s prophetic word:
if YOU are right, when we die without Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior – we’ll just end up in a cold, damp grave!
…but, if I’m right???
it’s your choice………………..but please, don’t be wrong!
ok, i study world religion and i have read all these comments finding some of them a bit much but that is my personal opionion. to me coexist is ment as just that. wanting u to try to coexist with everyone no matter faith or sex, in other words why dont we all just get along? trying to get along despite religious differences is the first step to a peaceful world. it is not about trying to tell them to be something they are not, it is just getting along.
As Christians, we were created for God’s glory and to love Him; and it’s our job as christians to go forth with the great commission and love others; with that I agree. Love is of God. You cannot know true love unless you know the ONE AND ONLY GOD: Jesus Christ/ the God of the Bible. So how can we say we love others as Christians when we have the antidote for life and for death and are willing to sit back and do nothing about it? How can we say we respect and love others while we sit back and watch people condemn themselves to hell because of their own doing and not try to warn them?
An athiest himself put it this way:
“If you believe one bit that thousands every day were falling into an eternal and unreacheable fate, you should be running the streets mad with rage at their blindness. That’s equivalent to standing on a street corner and watching every person that passes you walk blindly directly into the path of a bus and die, yet you stand idly by and do nothing. You’re just twiddling your thumbs, happy in the knowledge that one day that ‘walk’ signal will shine your way across the road. You’re just going to allow that to happen and not care about saving anyone but yourself? If you’re right then you’re uncaring, unemotional and purely selfish (expletive) that has no right to talk about subjects such as ‘love and caring.'”
Couldn’t have put it better myself….
Also, if there was more than one way to heaven then why on earth would Jesus (God Himself) have died on that cross for us?! Christianity is the only faith that asks you to give up SELF! Jesus asks us to take up our cross and follow Him daily! That means NOT living a selfish life: crazy concept! Christianity is NOT a religion (look up the definition of christianity and religion and find out for yourself). In religion it’s about how YOU can do it yourself and how YOU can reach heaven. Every other “religious belief” calls for you to have to work in order to obtain eternal salvation; Christianity asks for NOTHING but trust in Jesus. Religion is man trying to get to God or achieve “godhood,” Christianity is God coming down to man! Last time I checked no other “religious leader” did that for the people. Muhammad died, Buddha died, Jesus died, but only Jesus came back to life! The beauty of free will is that with this knowledge one still has the right to choose for himself. That’s just how much Jesus loved you, even though He knew people would deny Him (possibly you) He died anyway. I don’t think I could sacrifice my life for someone who hates me. Not to mention the Bible has NEVER been proven wrong! Thousands of thousands of people have tried; each one of them has failed miserably. Jesus DIED so that EVERYONE can go to be with Him for eternity. It’s not that hard of a concept people. You don’t have to do ANYTHING but believe, repent, and trust in Jesus! No strings attached that don’t benefit you; you have nothing to lose but everything to gain! Will life be perfect? Of course not! In fact it’ll be harder but you have an eternity of perfection to look forward to! “Jesus doesn’t get us around our troubles; He gets us through them.”
You cannot tell me you sincerely believe that you’re going to get to heaven and tell the Creator of the universe, the Alpha and Omega, God, that “hey, you tried your hardest!” You can NEVER obey every single command; it’s impossible. You sin without even realizing it; just read Benjamin Franklin’s account on attempting that. How sad that some people believe they can actually do it themselves. Please attempt to be perfect; let me know how that one goes….
p.s. I think it’s ironic how everyone who is not a christian is so quick to say that “christians are close-minded and judgemental” when in reality it is the non-christians who are being close minded and judgemental. To some extent I do agree that Christianity in this age has unfortunately been watered down by lukewarms and mixed worldviews of this age, but in that same breath we are called to be hard headed but open minded. Meaning, be willing to listen to others beliefs in a respectful way but be hard headed in that you in fact do know ABSOLUTE TRUTH. Try to share that with others. People who aren’t christians aren’t going to read the Bible, they’re going to read you.
Forerunner for Christ <3
Coexist- Exist together or at the same time.
God spoke to me today and he said………..Peace is the only way to me… Not your religion. How could someone thousands of miles away who lived years before Jesus, know Jesus??? Did that mean he did not go to heaven?? The sticker is just to show support that you believe in Peace and that you get along with all people not just your “Christian friends” Christians are such Hippocrats.
I believe we need to clearify terms when one claims that peace is the only way to God. What do you mean by peace? Christians believe in having peace with God, themselves, and others and a peace from god that passing all understanding. How would you define God? Though many religions have similarities, they have more differences. So not every one that says God, means the same thing. Also, how do you know God spoke to you?
The Bible teaches that people came to God through faith before Christ, which is the same way they are able to come to him today. See Hebrews chapter 11. Remember that before Jesus, the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world, people brought a lamb that was a firgure that represented Jesus. Abel brought a lamb for himself. The families of Israel brought a lamb for their family (Exodus 12), and later they brought a lamb for the entire nation known as the day of Atonement. So the progression was from an individual, to the family, to the nation, and to the entire world. This is all done to forgive our sins so we can return to God and re-establish a broken relationship with Him.
True Christianity is a person; Jesus, and not a religion. It is basically having a personal relationship with Jesus. American does not equal Christian:)
I have friends from other religions, but i do not call them hypocrites. One can find hypocrites anywhere; work, school, politicians, and yes religious people.
I personally do not preach Christianity, but rather I preach Christ who loves us, forgives us, and save us. for example, see the bumper sticker “Not perfect, just forgiven”. And yes i do believe that followers of Jesus should practice what they preach.
I like the bumper sticker. I will be using it during a lesson on world views and religions in an up coming college and career class I lead. I believe we can coexist. We are taught to love one another and our enemies (a revolutionary teaching). The truth is that the whole world was once enemies with God, but he became human and coexisted and died for those of the world.
Awesome topic!
Derek
Wonderful discussion! Yes, this bumpersticker has come to simply irritate me, but my take on it is completely different from what I’ve read. First, it’s nothing more than pure capitalism by its retailer Peacemonger (which I applaud loudly) so I don’t overread any great meaning into it. Just like Michael Moore making a grand living as a leading liberal despite really being a quintessential capitalist. Anyway, I have two issues with the message. First, it’s simply naive or uninformed to preach peace when the “C” wants to kill all the other letters. Perhaps the message should be focused directly at the “C” instead. Most importantly, I think the message is not “freedom of religion”, rather “freedom from religion”. The former IS peace promoting and goodhearted and wants everyone to respect each other, the latter I feel is mean-spirited and judgemental of the religious “morons”. I come to this conclusion by observing the other bumperstickers on the same car. For example, more often than not there will be one of those “Darwin Fish” bumperstickers on the same car. That bumper sticker is nothing but hateful. What do you care if someone simply says they have a love for Christ by putting a fish symbol on their car? It is nothing but mocking and disrespectful to feel you need to show how much more “evolved” you are than the religious simpleton. Watch for yourself and see how many people have some type of hateful sticker next to a COEXIST one – ironic.
My response to this is that I know for a fact not all religions can be right, I’m also well aware that freedom to believe what you want is extremely important to have in society. That being said, I feel tha I know the truth and that it is my duty as a Christian to spread this truth. It’s not my job to force it upon people but what kind of person would I be not to warn people about hell? I should be spreading the word of the lord and no hiding it saying your ok i’m ok.
I’ve waited awhile to comment about this.. But I will now. This is a response for believers in Jesus Christ.
I do not agree with the message of this bumper sticker. When I see it, (in regards to the Church) I think of apathy, lukewarmness, and apostasy. We are trying SO HARD to make the whole world think we are these great, understanding, open-minded people that we are compromising our own beliefs in the process. It is sad. We are trying to change the gospel, trying to change God’s word, to fit in with our “modern” times. It is WRONG. God does not change (1 Samuel 15:29). God’s word does not change. Many people will be offended by the cross of Christ. Many will be offended when they are told that they are living in sin. We are not going to be able to co-exist peacefully with ALL people if we’re really doing God’s will. Yes we should try to live at peace with everyone (Hebrews 12:14), but its not up to us whether or not others will do the same to us, or love us back. I understand that we are to love others, of course we are. We also are to love our enemies and pray for them (Matthew 5:44). But this is not the business we are in, to try and fit in with everyone else and be unequally yoked with unbelievers. What do righteousness and wickedness have in common??? (Corinthians 6:14)
This was not the point of Jesus coming to the earth. He came to convict people of their sins, so they can repent, believe in Him, and be saved by His blood! The gospel remains the same. And He was hated, and killed. Should we expect any better?
Blessed are you when men hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man. -Luke 6:22
Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for that is how their fathers treated the false prophets. -Luke 6:26
There are many many believers being persecuted and killed, imprisioned, kidnapped, etc. all over the world right now. It is dangerous to be a Christian in many parts of the world. Its not quite so dangerous in the US yet, but for those who are not compromising the Gospel in order that man shouldn’t be offended.. The times are changing.
Check out the website:
http://www.persecution.com/
3As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”
4Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. 5For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Christ,[a]’ and will deceive many. 6You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8All these are the beginning of birth pains.
9″Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. 10At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. 14And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
–Matthew 24:3-14
Wake up! Repent. Seek God, and His will for your life. Be watching!
okay coexisting is better than unity
coexisting means to live amidst each other
despite our differences, unity means together as one!
one religion, one country, one leader, one! but
the curious fact about the symbols on the bumper sticker is that
they’re all pagan/satanist. First off, the moon and star is pagan!
not muslim, you can speak to true muslim’s , there is no symbol
that represents there faith, faith and religion are different, the crescent and star symbol
was adopted by the Turks during the armenian genocide…
the peace symbol, or a broken, upside-down cross, to Roman emperor Nero, who hated and persecuted the early Christians, it meant destruction of Christianity. Revived in the sixties by hippies and others who protested nuclear weapons, Western culture, and Christian values (ignorance is bliss) the E represents hermaphrodite, bisexuals, homosexuality, etc.. or baphomet. The star of david is really a hexagram, this might offent a lot of Jews, at least the ones that read the kabalah, the true jews that read the tanakh know what is up; so when surrounded by a circle, it represents the “divine mind” (a counterfeit of God’s wisdom) to numerous occult groups through the centuries, for instance freemasons and kabalah worshipers share the same tree of life, atleast it’s systematic value. The “I” with the pentacle is obviously satanic, that’s a given. The ying and yang symbol has the same meaning as the swastika or in freemasonry the checkered floor, not anti semitic, this is why hitler really used it, it’s a movement for a new world order or a revolution, the black sun, the four winds, etc
Now last but not least, the cross is really catholic, now christianity is like islam, there shouldn’t be no symbol representing one’s faith atleast true christians know, christianity is not a religion it’s a faith and its been indoctrinated and combined with catholicism. The cross is where Jesus was crucified by the Romans/Jews, crosses are used in graveyards, mourning the dead. It’s a symbol of death and catholicism is really paganism, catholics are the one’s who said jesus was born dec, 24th, by mary blah blah blah star in the east is sirius
three kings are on orions belt and predates back to the ancient egyptians, babylonians, etc Pagan! pagan! pagan!
I am christian by faith not religion, I don’t need an image for God, jesus or the holy spirit. I don’t need a date when or by who he was born, I just have faith that he came and died for our sins. So the true story has been indoctrinated, muslims mesmorized the torah so it would’nt be indoctrinated as it has been. I’ve been studying symbolism and it’s connection to the present and ancient history for a while. The elitist of this world know that….so this bumper sticker has a good message except it’s true meaning is unity, what is unity? well uni means one or single in latin and it appears to be a new world order movement in plain sight.
Is it not fishy that everybody is brainwashed to go to church on SUNday? first day of the week, the jews go to church the sabbath day, saturday the seventh day of the week and the last as it says we should worship God on the day in the old testament. In my opinion we should worship God everyday! I’m not perfect I have flaws as everybody else, I don’t take credit for this knowledge for it is truth and my sweet God ehyeh asher ehyeh (translated from hebrew to english means i am that i am) allowed me to find this for a reason. Now my brothers and sisters, christian, muslim, jew or atheist, I pray for you all I pray for the world, this knowledge is for everybody but remember you must teach it to those who thirst for this. God bless you all! jesus lives! and the holy spirit is abundant to those who ask, seek, and knock…
Hey Remy, Know that if you are; then I am as well. People, God’s people, His creation are returinng back to the idea that we are all created equal in the eyes of God. There is only One God, and yes he died on the cross for yours and my sins as well as everyone else, including Jews and Muslims; Buddhists and atheists. All the religions are the result of collective intelligence and liberation theology. Simply put, people awaken to the Spirit as they awaken and then either turn to ideals of Heaven or Hell. God exists and Satan is the myth. But don’t tell the Sataninsts; tell healthcare abou their hypocritical or Hippocratic symbolism!
Some people believe they are condemned to Hell for their beliefs unless they believe what they are told. I believe that we are our own judge. So don’t be too hard on yourself on Judgment Day. Love is the key and Christ said, “Love God. And love your neighbor as yourself.” Facts and science are beginning to support dualsim in that we are 99.9% the same amidst all our differences of gender, skin color, geneaology, and eye color. Everything is 99.9% the same with all us humanoids. Yes Christ said, “ask, seek, and knock.” He also said, “Do not judge lest you should be judged.”
That is where coexist speaks of Christ’s abundant tolerance and compassion. The Fundamentalists on all sides are perpetuating the war between the three main religions; JCM, Judaism, Christianity, and Muslim. They all have bragging rights to Abraham. Mormonism included and is merely more Christianity surrounding the “eye for eye” Muslim camp, with the true love of Christ and American Indian and other worldwide cosmogonies, where they are all trying to agree on Peace Eternal. Some Mormons have their share of pedophile problems like some Catholic priests and yet they all try their best to do the right thing. The right thing is nothing and everything. And, God is everything or else He is nothing. I choose to believe He is everything, including COEXIST.
I don’t understand most Islam warlike tendencies but I understand this one simple Sufi proverb; “I searched for God and found only myself. And when I searched for myself, I found only God.” I believe God has never left us and is continually witnessing His creation as His spirit moves through the generations of mankind.
Here’s my simple version of COEXIST; I am sure that I could write a book on these seven letters and their symbolism, but I just read “The Fifth Agreement” which would state we need to get past symbolism to evolve. But here is my opinion of COEXIST for whatever it is worth. The first will be last and the last will first speaks volumes about the C and T. Turks and Christ. The C with a star is on many Muslim flags but it has more to do with astronomy based alchemy as do the EXIS. They all have cosmogonies about lesser beings as being angels or demons depending upon a person’s viewpoint on whether he is good or evil. Or whether he/she was evil and is now good or vice-versa.
The Yin-Yang and Star of David are merely a regurgitation of Eastern and Western thought that merged into the gray area of what we call science fiction. The same gray would hold true for the line separating the two tear drops leaving us with two spheres One of light; and one of darkness. The SOD is simply an upward-pointing triangle of light; super-imposed against a downward pointing triangle of darkness. The center area being gray, which is that gut feeling we all have towards why am I here? Whay are we here? Should we promote peace or war? I choose peace as would Christ, who I am sure is crying over all this alpha and omega Cain-Abel business of Abrahamic superiority.
The symbolism of the E with an upside down cross and upward arrow are symbols for female and male, but also symbolically explains [at least to me] why St. Peter demanded to be crucified upside down. He knew of the “sacred feminine” in the current of humanity as did St. John of Patmos, who described seven churches in Revelations. The first and last of the seven are goddess based churches and all others are based on patriarchal heirarchies and trade unions.
Know this, real men always protect their women and vice-versa. This is the agnosticism current. Women are in the WE camp and men/many men are in the Me camp. That is why I believe men go to war; they are to much into ME and by me, I mean they have lost contact with the True God of Creation, which by the way is not me nor is it you. “Those who say don’t know; and those who know don’t say.” By the way, I know very little other than my love for God and His love for me.
My belief system is simple. Believe in God. Trust in Christ. And, LOVE your neighbor since he has a viewpoint too. I also pray for the worldwide revolution of PEACE.
One thing I’ve noticed in my life’s travels is that different religious groups throughout time haven’t gotten along since the beginning of recorded history. The notion behind co-exist is a very touchy subject for many.
I grew up in a very religious family. Both my mother and my father’s side were equally as crazy as the other. I figured out at an early age religion is the reason why a lot of people on this earth fight. Either it be small factions of the same religion or differing religions blood has been shed in the name of Allah, God, Jesus, etc. I am of no religion and have found that most rational people think religion isn’t the answer but part of the problem.
Logic defies irrationality. I understand most people need religion to help them “live a better life” but it’s not for everyone. I’m one of those who represent a group of rational thinkers devoted to good moral and ethical practice not via religion but good old fashioned common sense. We are growing in number, thank Gaia!
To Docta Li: Re: The Devil and/or Satan: I think the best places on our Mother Earth to find evidence of the Devil or Satan may be within our own government and others that would think it is “OK” or “justifiable” to send unmanned drones to Afghanistan and Pakistan and Iraq and kill people with them. Just to drop a bomb from a plane or to fire a rifle at anyone who’s country you are illegally occupying is E V I L! This whole culture of war is evil. All the war contractors are evil. Who could support any government who employs a military that actually TRAINS CHILDREN to break God’s commandments? (The biggest one: THOU SHALT NOT KILL.. or is it “commit murder.”) Our kids need to wake up and realize that whomever their drill sergeant SAYS is ‘the bad guys’ might actually be the ‘good guys’ who are being horribly violated by the U.S. Military and that in fact, our SOLDIERS are ‘the bad guys!’ And they’re killing more every day. This is where Rev. Wright interpreted his views of “God damn America!” and I agree wholeheartedly.
War is not a necessity unless you are a weapons manufcturer and if the money spent on weapons to control the masses were stopped then more problems would erupt. Since no war will ever be totally won until Christ steps down out of the clouds shaking hands with Allah, Mohammed, Jehovah, and Yawheh, The nonsensical bad-mouthing by all parties only perpetuates this and other senseless wars which have never made any sense. So why is it done? Resources and power, people and territory, and while I don’t agree with damning America, I do find it necessary to defend those that cannot be defended. It is difficult being the world’s police force and its humanitarian, but I agree whole-heartedly that training any children to hate, kill or steal from anyone is inherently wong in God’s eyes. On another note, I have seen people taking photos of my COEXIST sticker while sitting in traffic on L.A. freeways. Someday everyone will wake up and understand, “to love your neighbor as yourself–will never mean–unless you have to kill him first.”
To Jerry Jaspar: THOU SHALT NOT KILL was given to the nation Israel so the citizens of that nation would know that it is wrong to kill a fellow citizen. This has nothing to do with the military personnel killing combatants during a war. You have taken this commandment out of context. We all know that the sole purpose of government is to protect it’s citizens. We need a military to protect us from “outside” threats and we need police to protect us from “inside” threats (i.e. citizens that don’t abide by the law)
sorry to get off track…please continue
Very well said gman. I don’t agree in war but as an ex-Marine I believe in defending our country and its citizens and now the US, like I said in my previous post has a difficult job by being the world’s “police force and its humanitarian.” We are always the first on the scene of any disaster and that has got to be favorable in God’s eyes. I see the Christians being upset about the symbol being pagan, but I also believe that Christ never intended for this Muslim problem to be so out of control. The Old Testament’s history and the Koran both speak of an eye for an eye mentality, but when will the world wake up and be rational instead of fundamentalists and idealists? I must believe that Christ died on the cross so none of us should perish, but try telling that to a Christian or Muslim or Jew, who are certain they are right. How can they all be right? It is again the Abrahamic root that we all; every 7+ billion of us that realize we are all part of God’s master plan towards peace and COEXIST even though many do not see it this way and attempt to manipulate and control.
As a Christian I have to say the bumper sticker does not bother me at all. I believe in Jesus Christ, not in a sticker or a symbol. Correct me if I am wrong, but I thought the Bible taught us not to worship man-made objects, I think this includes bumper stickers or the symbols contained in them. If its just a symbol then why let it anger you. I think so many times people get wrapped up in a “pissing contest” of who is right and who is wrong that they forget who they are. The Bible preaches love and peace, and yet so many project anger when “forcing their belief on someone”. If I ever feel any hate or anger towards someone for believing in a religion other than my own, I ask my self “am I being Christian about this?”. The answer is no, how as Christians are we to spread the word of love and peace if we do it with hate and anger. I must say I agree that have to learn to coexist, for who are we to judge anyone but ourselves. If you call yourself a Christian than walk as one, with love and peace in your heart.
I will repeat what many people are saying. The def. of coexist is: exist at the same time or in the same place. As a disciple of Christ I am taught that coexistence is meaningless, as existing with others is impossible to avoid. Now to love each other as Christ loves us would change the world. 1 Corinthians 13:13 says that love is the most important of things. So true Christians shouldn’t get bent out of shape over a bumper sticker that is truly nonsense and go out and show love.
To quote the Beatles, all you need is love. 🙂
From your 15 year old friend,
Izrael Hamilton
SO SAY I. The human is the cancer of the EARTH !!!!!! Racism: and RELIGIOUS DOMINANCE!!!!! is the UGLIEST of human behaviors. COEXIST COEXIST COEXIST
i agree with the idea of coexisting. The parable of the wheat and the tares teaches that it is God’s job in the end of the world to gather the true believers together. It is not our job to separate the wheat from the tares. We must coexist until the end of the ages.
The comment about “These are the same people who talked about the world being flat” is totally ignorant. It was the scientists of the day that made up the flat earth theory. No biblical author voiced any opinion about the shape of the earth. There were a lot of scientific truths that were not known or understood at the time of the writing of the Bible. That is no reason to reject the spiritual truths that the Book teaches that have proven to be true over time. “Pride comes before the fall” and the “wages of sin is death” etc.
“the one true God ” I took that quote from Carter, and that is exactly where the religious intolerance begins. My nice opinion is that not everyone is the same and not everyone has the same spiritual and mental capacities. Some religions are more complex than others but they all lead to the same place and there is one for everyone. God made it this way. 🙂 On the other hand, if someone is going to claim to know that there religion contains the “the one true God ” then my not so nice reaction is that he/she is pitifully brainwashed by acculturated beliefs and cannot think for themselves.
Left the most important part out of my previous message. All Gods are one God. Catch a clue folks if you don’t know this already, and IT(God, Goddess, Allah, Whatever) isn’t yours alone. It made us all. Choose whatever religious practice and prayer and ritual you want, but don’t be a doo doo head! Peace and Love, God Bless and Bright Blessings to all.
Bruno if all gods are the God then why would some gods tell their followers to kill unbelievers? Doesn’t that kind of contradict the belief of all pathways lead to heaven? Now I’m assuming you mean that the actual practice is meaningless as well in which case why bother with life and a stupid sticker? The idea that we all go to God no matter how hateful, disgusting, or screwed up we are just makes life itself a pointless endeavor and through the ideas you have set forth we’d all be better off with a bottle of cyanide. Now if we have been given our way to heaven by the grace of God due to the slaughtering of the Lamb and we accept that the Lamb’s blood hides our disgusting sins in God’s eyes then we have a life worth living, one in which we have to find the Truth and accept it and praise Him.
If this sounds mean or harsh I apologize.
From your 15 year old friend,
Izrael Hamilton
I’m a Christian and I have the bumpersticker on my car. I don’t really think the bumpersticker is so much about religion (or religions) or about God (or if you believe..gods).
I think it’s about the fact that many people on this earth follow many religions and beliefs and that regardless of that…..we should all get along and allow eachother to coexist.
As a Christian, I know what I need to do to get to heaven, but the bumpersticker (imho) isn’t about that….it’s just about getting along. As far as talking to people about how to get to heaven; I get to that in other ways in a whole different conversation.
Again…in my opinion….We were ALL invited to live on this earth….and NONE of us were asked to check the guest list!
Peace,
Eric
I have the “coexist” bumper sticker, was raised Catholic, and consider myself to be a part of my own personal religion, one that takes what I see as the “best” and most logical of everything I know (which isn’t to say that’s a lot) about other religions, using the brain god gave me to come to that conclusion. Sometimes, people cannot see the forest through the trees, or get wrapped up in the rules and miss the values from which the rules stem.
What I see as the common theme among religions I’ve been exposed to is simply LOVE. Since Jesus is the religious figure I am most familiar with, I am quite confident that if we were able to actually ask him “WWJD,” he would certainly endorse peaceful coexistence. I can’t quote chapter and verse the way others do to prove my point via the Bible, but a few of the messages that stuck with me from my twelve years of Catholic instruction are “those who are without sin cast the first stone,” “just not, that you may not be judged.” “Love thine enemy.” My favorite hymn was the prayer of St. Francis: “Make me a channel of your peace,” which included the phrases “it is in pardoning that we are pardoned, in giving to ALL MEN that we receive….to be understood, as to understand, and to be loved, as to love with all my soul.”
My “coexist” sticker is slightly different, although I did not realize it when I bought it—although the differences are fine with me: the “o” is the wiccan symbol (and just to reiterate, wiccans have way more to do with nature than with “witchcraft”), the “e” is represented by “e=mc2,” and the “i” is dotted with the Buddhist wheel of Dharma, I have another bumper sticker that says “My God doesn’t hate,” which may offend some people, but my feeling is, if it offends you, I kind of have to infer that *your* God does practice hate, and I can’t get behind that idea. In reality, there are members of certainly every religion (perhaps best described as the “extremists”) who give their religion a bad rap, or who feed the negative stereotypes that persist. Muslim does not equal terrorists. Baptists are not followers of Fred Phelps and his Westboro “Church.” Any any Christian who proudly utters a racist belief needs to go back to Sunday School kindergarten.
Another favorite pop slogan (perhaps from the Onion) are two “quotes” attributed to God: “What part of ‘Thou Shalt Not Kill’ don’t you understand”?” and “No, I did NOT say that.” Bottom line, I simply can’t see a just and loving God sending anyone who is decent and kind and moral to hell. And if that’s the case, heaven just wouldn’t feel right to me.
Peace out.
I believe that it is sad that the world has been caught up in so many lies that there are many ways to heaven…i am not by any means a King James Bible beating Baptist that is going to beat you over the head with the Bible, but roughly 2000 years and over 30 authors and for nothing in the entire thing to contradict its self…thats nothing that can be done through man but the “ONE” God, creator, who is seeking a personal relationship with each and every man, woman, and child that is on this earth, he is only waiting for the first step to be made so salvation can be possible. How can one man be mentioned in nearly every religion (Jesus) as a great man, when in the Bible it says he can not be called a great man nor a prophet because if that is so it is nothing short of calling him nothing at all. He was the only sinless man to every walk to earth that came bled and died on the cross for the sins of you and I alike, on the cross we were even on his mind, for you are why he came, and he longs to have a relationship with you so that he can fill the empty void that is within each of our hearts, he has moved through me (not without a fight on my side) and I have given my life to him and i promise when you come in contact with a true Christian you will see there is something different, when you do I ask you to ask them why and listen to the wonderful story that they have to tell you…Until then i will be praying for you and that God will do the mighty work in your life that he so desires, thank you for your time,
Eric I’ll restate what I said earlier COEXISTANCE is impossible to not do. If you are alive you must coexist with something.
Carol noone is moral we are all cruel, hateful, and sinful. God provides us with an alternative to what we deserve (which is what we call hell) and allows us to go to heaven although we all in our hearts KNOW we should wallow in the cesspool of our sins for all of eternity. To me that sounds more loving then letting us all get away with our crimes, Him providing us with the bail to our otherwise miserable prison sentence is the most loving thing anyone could do. Hell is for those who say “We don’t need your bail I’ll be alright” in their belief that Hell is just some fictitious place. Hoping we all make it to heaven is silly when God is waving a ‘Get Out of Jail Free’ card in your face and we just run past ignoring his offer.
(Yet again)
From your 15 year old friend,
Izrael Hamilton
Lance, I enjoyed reading your article on the COEXIST bumper stickers and tee-shirts and agree with you IN THEORY. There is one problem with that happy go lucky philosophy that is hard to comprehend in America. One major religion exists whose tolerant followers are breaking the tenets of their holy books if they seek or allow coexistance. The fact that 90% of it’s followers may be into coexistence does not change this truth. The 10% who actually follow what the Koran says are a danger to you if you ignore them. The press tells us that most are followers of a peaceful, serene, non-violent religion. But that is NOT what the Koran says, Lance. There are ~1 billion muslims, so if 10% (= 100million fundamentalists) are sympathetic to destroying the infidel (non believers) by taxing, subjugating, enslaving and smoting him in the neck, then you have a problem. Perahps there is 1% (= 10million radicals) who would be willing to strap a bomb on to themselves or someone they recruit. These 10million need to be dealt with as our enemy. But all of them are suspect. When you put that sticker on your car your intention may be good, but it indicates that you have a naive and rather sophmoric view of the world. The danger here is that it reinforces a blind, no-judgmental, relativistic world view that is intolerant of rational thought. The soft tyranny of political correctness paralyzes the body politic from defending itself. It is a virus that destroys the immune system. That immune system you charcaterize as intolerance is actually sanity, Lance. The right to lawful self defense is a universal idea and people who display this slogan are generally useful idiots for those who seek to destroy us. Fundamental ISLAM wants to convert you, but if they can’t, they are authorized and encouraged BY THEIR WRITTEN HOLY MAINSTREAM DOCTRINE to tax or enslave infidels (non-believers) and even murder you (whatever the faithful can manage to do to conquer resistance to their plans). IF YOU DO NOT BELIEVE WHAT I WRITE HERE- GOOD! RESEARCH IT FOR YOURSELF. GET EXPERIENCE TALKING TO MUSLIMS WHO ARE RADICAL. BE CAREFUL ! ! !
This bumper sticker is a sin, especially considering the people (like my neighbor) who don them. What a hypocrite! The very same person who has this sticker screams obscenities out her window at neighbors like a disgusting demon. This coexist thing with witches and Islamists who are Satanists and idolators?? What is that garbage? I’ll tell you what it is….a one way ticket to hell! I am sick to death of this trash being shoved down our throats by Satanists who have no problem quoting Jesus Christ to their advantage about ‘love thy neighbor as thyself’. He never said anything about loving Satan and his followers and embracing them they way you would have us do, especially with the Antichrist running the U.S. right now. I pray for your souls. You are demented and possessed.
Christians are not told to coexist (they way you are implying here) with Satanists, and idolators. Period. Stop using the Holy Bible and distorting it to your advantage.
To AnnMarie,
Thanks for you comment on my article, Im glad that you took the time to read it and let us know how you feel. Along with letting me know that I am on a one way ticket to hell, oh and dont forget that Im possessed. I do not respond to every comment on here, but something about yours made me interested. Im not sure if you will ever check this again. But all that would like to say is that I wish that you would take your time and efforts that you put into what seems like “hating” satanists, and that you would look at finding ways to love them, and Christ loves you.
If your interested in ever talking about this to me, or anyone that is interested. You can email me at Lance@enochmagazine.com
thanks again for reading
AnnMarie that’s the kind of hateful speech that Jesus would never have used. Now since you believe a sticker of all things is a sin that can’t be forgiven you should know that Jesus died for ALL sins (thus making your statement about Hell moot) 1 John 2:2, Romans 6:23, John 3:16 and specifically for you John 8:7.
Your 15 year old friend,
God bless
Izrael Hamilton
One simple thing to remember, especially in these times, is that you can only coexist WHEN THEY DON’T WANT TO KILL YOU!!!
Jesus did more than coexist – he loved those who had different beliefs. He died for them and asked God to forgive them when they crucified him. He gave himself up for the very people who hated him. And as for showing respect and listening to others, he did that and showed respect yes, but He also shouted at them and condemned them when they were wrong! He gave up His existence so that they could have a chance to fully come into theirs.
Like the ideas shared there, but seriously as Christians I think we need to love God more and then we’ll love our neighbors more, even if it means we share beliefs lovingly that may offend. The cross is offensive, let’s admit it!
We’ll I have to say I find this banter more interesting than the column. It simply amazes me that the simple idea of coexisting can be debated. I don’t pretend to know what the intent of was of the artist during his creation of the bumper sticker.
Sure there have been comments from Jerry Jasper about his own beliefs, but I can’t help but believe it was meant to be homage to all faiths. I mean it’s a bumper sticker attempting to tie the predominate faiths of the world together in about thirty square inches. I applaud all those who see that the one common denominator of any religion is love and respect for all of “god’s” creations. Anything more is simply cult based rhetoric and needs careful criticism before acceptance.
Hi everyone, after reading through the various comments, which were very good, I don’t recall seeing what the “Co-exist” bumper sticker actually means. So I’d like to present the following information for your consideration and ask you to decide based on the evidence…
The “C” represents the Crescent of Islam.
The “Star” represents the Star of David (Judaism).
The “t” represents the cross of Christianity.
The Muslims don’t believe that Jesus is God.
Judaism doesn’t believe that their Messiah has come.
Christianity believes that Jesus is God; He is the Messiah, and that His death is the sufficient payment for sins and His resurrection validates His claims.
If one truly believes any of those three positions, how can they co-exist unless they lay aside their beliefs? Jesus Christ said that He came to bring division, and one’s belief in Him is the basis for that division (Matt 10:34-36).
I leave you with the question that Pilate asked…”what shall I do with Jesus, who is called the Christ (Messiah)?” My friends, what will you do with Jesus?
~*~Aloha Lance~*~
I was googling a place to buy a Coexist sticker for my vehicle and came across this article and have personally found it very interesting. It’s amazing to see all the beliefs and convictions others have. I was born and raised Catholic. I dated a guy from a Jehova’s witness family for years and then decided it was way too complicated and that I would stick to a Catholic guy from then on out. When I met my husband (of 11 years now) he came from a Jewish family but basically was raised without any type of religion.
I was very strong in my Catholic beliefs however I was basically condemned from the church because I wasn’t married in one.
This path of “religious acceptance” has opened “my” eyes to love and acceptance.
10 years ago I was told by the Jehovas witnesses that I was wrong being Catholic because we prayed to saints and celebrated birthdays, and that the Jew’s were “God’s chosen people”. Catholics were a little more tolerant (in the circle I was raised) but I still remember feeling “intolerable” to the Jehova’s for thinking I was wrong! haha When I met my “Jewish family” I learned that in order to be a “True Jew” you must be born of a Jewish Mother….that doesn’t stop my Jewish family from loving me or our daughter though. 🙂 It’s still seems like craziness to me though! heehee!
Today I celebrate Christmas, love Christ, Buddha, Jah, honor the Earth, Moon Cycles, Summer & Winter Solstices, celebrate Hanukkah, Halloween, Easter, Passover. I create vision boards, talk to Nature and enjoy healthy conversations with the Jehovas Witnesses that bring magazines to my door.
We CAN coexist. It’s weather we have an open mind and soul to do so. I was scared to accept other religions and that kept me stuck in fear. Now that I accept…I feel LOVE.
I understand that people out there might feel that we could never coexist…it will just take time and experience to open up and blossom. Hopefully these bumper stickers will bring some light into one’s world to question what they believe a bit if it is causing them intolerance and the inability to accept others based on fear and guilt. Where true love exists, fear and guilt do not.
~*~Aloha~*~(Peace, Love, Blessings and all good things to you).
I am such a Pollyanna sometimes! I had no idea that the notion of “coexisting” would be controversial to people who claim to carry the love of Jesus in their hearts. I proudly display this bumper sticker on my car feeling I was giving a wink and a nod to fellow religious believers and and had no clue that people would be threatened by the idea of tolerance and would be making assumptions about me as a driver that would include discounting me as a Christian. If, like some responders here, I was comfortable cut and pasting one-liners out of context from scripture to suit my purposes I’d have to go with “Faith, Hope and Love–THE GREATEST OF THESE IS LOVE!” Drivers, you can not love and hate at the same time. For Christ sake, LOVE!
I think the point is being missed that as Americans we are the MOST TOLERANT people in the WORLD! Also as a Catholic it was a constant topic of loving EVERYONE. THe fact is our Muslim brothers and sister have a HUGE PROBLEMS of intolerance! There are Muslim extremists here in the U.S. trying to KILL US because they hate the way we live PERIOD! You all need to WAKE UP to THAT reality! I love everyone but the problem is I do not have to worry about a Christian blowing up my child’s school in the name of Allah! I worry that also because of the media that there is such a complacency an ignorance to what is happening in the Muslim world. I accept all religions and love everyone but let’s open our eyes to who is REALLY intolerant! Our politicians do not care that many Americans will be hurt including some peaceful muslims due to “political correctness”.
I love the sticker.
I did not read all of the entries so forgive me if repeat some things. Muslims, Jews, Christians and Catholics all share the same God as Abraham. Each have accepted or rejected historical texts as they fit or don’t fit their beliefs. Shiite and Sunni hate each other, Irish Catholics and Protestants hate each other, Native Americans and Wicken honor nature.
There is a reason Muslims hate Christians, take some time to study some history, just as protestant settlers in North America Murdered and massacred American Indians; during the “Crusades” Christians Murdered and massacred all who did not accept Christ, mainly Muslims. Destruction of cities in the old testament did not exactly exclude women and children from death and mutilation.
As I personally believe “There is too much killing in the different Names of (one) God”.
There will either be “Streets of Gold” for very small percentage of the world population OR a lot of Virgins waiting for a slightly larger % of the world population. OR maybe we will simply be recycled by Mother Earth. No offesnse to any Aisian religions, but y’all kinda mind your business so I don’t know much about you.
Thank you Allah, God, Jehovah, Jesus, Mother Earth…….. (Note alphabetical order).
Peace, Love and best wishes to Coexist.
I have read almost all of the comments. Hard to keep up with where I left off with a toddler running around. Lance, thanks for some great comments. Just want to add one more. Keep in mind that the day Jesus was born on this earth, he entered enemy territory and war was started. This kingdom on earth is not His. It’s Satan’s. We can love others and live with others but we will not always agree because everything Jesus is contradicts everything the world is and acts like salt in a wound. Jesus always confronted and challenged; however, it was always done with love and grace, not with anger and hate. Just some added thoughts.
@ May on May 6 2010
You said
extremists here in the U.S. trying to KILL US because they hate the way we live.
I say no they hate us because we dress our dogs in couture and watch housewives of orange county, party mama’s and american idol while taking no responsibility for our actions across the world while people starve and children are blown to bits.
just say’in
i love the meaning behind this sticker
i plan on getting a tattoo that says “we all bleed the same color”
The message is very clear. COEXIST is a message for you, not for different religions. It invites you to live life in peace with others regardless of their religion, sex, place of origin, political views, etc…
Imagine how great our life could be if we were willing to coexist with everyone around us without judging and being judged based on these things.
The problem with “COEXIST” is in the beliefs of the different Religions on the sticker not the IDEA of coexisting. Lets start with the first letter “C” The Crescent Moon of Islam. Islam teaches everyone age thirteen and older who do not believe in Islam are to be KILLED in Holy War. Furthermore, believers of other religions under the age of thirteen must choose Islam or DEATH at age thirteen. Now. Please explain how to “COEXIST” with Islam! The ONLY WAY TO EXIST UNDER ISLAM IS TO BE ISLAM. That is not “COEXISTING”. That is FORCED CONVERSION!
Ironically at the opposite end of the word “COEXIST” is the Christian symbol, the Cross. Christians believe that one should LOVE YOUR ENEMIES, do good to those who hate you.
Now. You find a way to make KILL your neighbor and LOVE your neighbor COEXIST! That is without LITERALLY LOVING THEM TO DEATH. (Loving them until and while you put them to death) UNTIL ISLAM CHANGES IT’S CORE BELIEFS your dream of COEXIST will only result in a NIGHTMARE OF DEATH AND DESTRUCTION FOR ALL WHO ARE NOT OF THE ISLAMIC FAITH!
By the way Islam/Muslim believers can not “COEXIST” with themselves. Sunni Muslims and Shiite Muslims all over the world (not just Iraq) are killing each other on the right and left. How can anyone in their right mind expect them to “COEXIST” with other beliefs?
If any person reads the Beatitudes in Matthew 6 (i believe), something is actually being done here, in all of history, man has NEVER done this, let me reemphasize HOLY scripture. It emphasized the nature of man’s sin with which Jesus commissions the 12 disciples, he new they weren’t perfect. No other religion has a true Messiah other than that of Christianity.
It’s not easy to explain this in a post rather than face to face with perhaps any of you. Loosely, even though I am not Catholic in faith, I think some sorts of Purgatory exist, the mentallists behind Islam, Muslim, agnostisizm, atheism, the whole slew will understand this in a state of panic of this Purgatory. Peace only comes through sacrifice, through out nation, our religious faith in the sacrificed blood of Jesus, and I am 100 percent shure no other religion knows this than that of Christianity and the Jewish people. How many of you actually had a divine dream?
Hey, everyone.
I actually HAVE one of those stickers, so I can tell you outright what it means to me and why I have it.
Religion is a tricky thing, as EVERY kind has extremists, yet EVERY kind teaches charity. At the end of the day, most people are just everyday men and women like you and me. It’s the extremists who believe in killing and persecution. The things that people seem to forget is that every religion also suffers from antiquated cultural influences that control things like diet and dress. At the end of the day, though, every religion is written and governed by humans who are simply trying to interpret and act on the word of whatever god (or gods) they are trying to follow out of fear of what comes next. I don’t know about you, but hell is a pretty scary concept…..but that doesn’t mean that I’m going to shove my beliefs down my Catholic, Protestant, atheist, agnostic, Jewish, or Wiccan friends. I don’t personally know any Muslims, but even if I did, I doubt it would matter. I’ve already personally experienced the fact that we CAN coexist. Frankly, I don’t understand why that’s so hard for many people to accomplish.
P.S. I’m gnostic, if anyone was curious. Think of it as a very old form of Christianity, before it became organized and rigid as a church.
Interesting debate. However, as a Jew, I had to laugh at the poster who said that Jews and Chrsitians were closer in beliefs than Jews and Muslims…
Not even close. Jews and Muslims have POLITICAL differences. However, RELIGIOUSLY, we are far closer. The life view of Muslims and Jews (those that are not extreme) is far closer than Jews and Christians. Christians believe it’s POSSIBLE for God to have come to earth as a sacrifice for all mankind. They believe it’s POSSIBLE that God could have walked the earth as a man. they belive it’s POSSIBLE to die for the sins of another.Christians believe it’s POSSIBLE for God to be 3 in 1. Jews and Muslims BOTH believe none of this. God is and always was ONE (and not some trinity that is 3 in 1). God could NOT sacrifice himself TO HIMSELF. And even if one COULD die for the sins of another (which Ezekiel clearly tells us is not the case), Jesus didn’t even qualify. He wasn’t the right age, he wasn’t sacrificed in the temple, and he wasn’t unblemished after they beat the crap out of him. And Christians and Jews will NEVER agree on the fact that IF Jesus was the SON of God, he had NO HUMAN father, and THEREFORE didn’t meet the qualifications to be the Messiah down through the line of David VIA THE FATHER. Nope, no perfect Jewish sacrifice there, and BOTH Jews and Muslims agree on those points.
As for Muslims being all about killing, it’s simply not true. Sure, EXTREMISTS are, but take a look at some of the extremist Christian groups, PUHLEEZE. Sure their Quran has some pretty scary killing stuff in there, but read your own Christian Bible’s Old Testament (what Jews call the Tanach, with some pretty major changes, of course). According to the OT you can kill your child for misbehaving. There’s some pretty bloody stuff in there about murder, geez.
And one more thing…Christians can’t coexist with THEMSELVES either. None of y’all can agree on ANYTHING, much less WHO is a “real” Christian.
Seriously, enough with thinking we’re better than Muslims. Are peaceful peoples better than unpeaceful peoples? I certainly hope our BEHAVIOR is better, but that includes peaceful Muslims as well.
It is a nice idea on a surface level. It also predominates in a culture where everyone says your truth is your truth. Problem is we all define truth somewhere, the only question is where?
What most people don’t realize is that by slapping the major world religions/philosophical outlooks on the back of their car and telling them to “COEXIST,” they are in fact subscribing to their own brand of truth, not standing as the objective judge of religion.
For those who would like a little background and a deeper look at the COEXIST sticker check out the link.
http://engagethe.wordpress.com/2010/07/11/
I’ve loved the way this sticker was presented since the first time I saw it. I think that “coexisting” is the only way world peace will ever happen. I’m not saying that all religions are right; I am a strong Christian myself. I think people should open their minds when it comes to religion and the beliefs of other people. You have to give respect to gain it.
I very much like the article but I have sopmething to say.
Judism, Islam and Christianity all believe in the same God. The only thing that is different is the prophet. Jesus in Christianity, Muhammad in Islam and David (I’m not sure if I am right on that one. Sorry if I offend on my lack of knowledge) for Judism. And it is not like you are forced to sit during somebody else religious service. Get over it and COEXIST!
You’ve not investigated very deeply if you honestly feel that the COEXIST material is anything that Christians should support. Go to their website; look at the “art” that they are selling. The material is full of immorality and new age imagery. I DO NOT think Christians should support violence or discrimination against any other religious group at all, but I will not support the deceptive concept that we are all equal. Several comments above allude to Jesus as peaceful and loving, but none seem to remember him driving the moneychangers out of the temple with a whip. No one mentioned him calling the Pharisees “whited sepulchers” and “hypocrites”. Christianity is about loving the sinner enough to pull him or her OUT of the sin, not telling them that they are ok. When a person is heading head-long into danger, true love says “Stop! You’re going the wrong way!” not “Oh, it’s ok. I love you, so I won’t tell you you’re wrong”.
Hi, I just came across this article when I was searching for stores that carry the bumper sticker “Coexist.” I found this article and the comments on it very interesting because of the difference in opinions we all share. When I first saw the bumper sticker “Coexist,” I thought how great it was of a way to remind people to live in harmony with each other. My thoughts were on an even deeper level though which included coexisting with all life (plants and animals included). I think that you can have your religion and your beliefs, but you should also respect others as well. Nothing turns me off more to Christianity than hearing the judgments made against other people’s religion and cultures. I believe in Jesus being the son of God, but I believe God reaches us all in different ways. I think people get too caught up in the religious dogma of wanting to be the “right” religion. That has more to do with the ego than God. Being Christian should be about sharing Christ and spreading the love; not making judgments against each other.
P.S. People of different religions can AND do exist every day. Just because they are from a different religion/race/culture/etc does not mean that they are not human. That is the whole point of the bumpersticker, “Coexist.” It is a reminder for us to not discriminate against one another.
Couple of things.
People who put religious, even or “non-religious”, organized belief stickers on their car are probably insecure in their organized belief and feel as though they have to reassure themselves of the belief by advertising it to everyone they drive by. Exceptions to the rule, of course, but that is the rule. This rule applies to Atheist and Pagan bumper stickers (I’ve seen them pasted on bumpers as well) as much as it does to Christian bumper stickers.
If you’re comfortable in your beliefs you don’t need a single other person on the planet to agree with even one of them. And, you certainly don’t need a bumper sticker to tell you and everyone else what those beliefs are.
I like the idea of organized religions all peacefully coexisting. And, the good news, is that they do. Well, unless you include “The Religion of Peace”. They don’t get along with any other belief systems and consider others outside of their belief structure “infidels”. And, boy, wait till you see the special treatment they have for infidels. I speak of course of Islam.
So, unless the intent of this COEXIST sticker is to promote the idea to Muslims that they should exist peacefully with other religions/belief systems then the bumper sticker is ignorant. Creative perhaps but ignorant nonetheless.
Ask yourself these questions. Do the Baptists go running into the woods beheading Satan worshipers? No, they don’t. Do Pagans strap on bombs and blow themselves up in crowded markets filled with Arab and Palestinian Muslims? No, they don’t. Do Buddhists stone Atheists for self belief? No, they don’t. Do Catholics threaten to kill artists that depict Jesus in a disrespectful way? No, they don’t.
But, Muslims frequently do all of these things all in the name of Allah. What is more, they do it unabashedly and without remorse. Like psychopaths.
I’ve seen many lively, and even heated debates, between different groups of organized religions/beliefs. But the only bomb throwing I’ve seen in these discussions has been metaphorical. That is, until you bring a Muslim into the debate. Then the bomb throwing could be quite literal.
Surely, the people who wear these COEXIST stickers on their bumpers are smart enough to see that organized religions/belief systems do all coexist together. Except Muslims. Well, I choose to think these bumper sticker wearers are smart and are just trying to help Muslims think this through.
😉
@Davis
Even Christians have had a hard time coexisting. Catholics and Protestants were killing each other in Northern Ireland for quite a while.
This is who I am: A female in her 40’s with 2 children that have both been baptised as Christians. I was raised as an Air Force kid, married an Army officer, was an army officer myself. Only 10 months of my entire life have I not been attached to the military in some form. I was raised catholic. My parents for the most part are conservative republicans. I lived in numerous countries and have sacrificed my own life, have seen my parents sacrifice their life, my husband is currently deployed in Afghanistan sacrificing his life again, and have seen my children meet the challenges of moving 6 times within 8 years. They will get to spend their 4th holiday season with their dad out of the last 7 years. I am proud of our country and proud of every moment I have spent in my life giving to it so we can have the right to our own beliefs.
I was raised to respect ALL people of ALL religions as long as they do not harm others. I have learned that their is a vast range of beliefs among individuals even within their own church/place of belief. I have the utmost respect for my parents in raising me not to hate, to not judge others based on their appearance. People are not cookie cutter forms regardless of what religion they are, where they are from, who they are attracted to, and what they look like. The sticker “coexist” obviously means different things to different people, not only those who display it but those who read it. The idea of bumper stickers has always seemed kind of tacky to me, although I love reading them. I also, like others have mentioned in previous posts, like guessing what the people will look like based on their stickers. I always think to myself “please don’t fit the stereotype”.
The idea of breaking stereotypes at the same time as being comfortable with my own beliefs and feelings on tolerance and standing up for what I believe in has reached an all time high.
The “COEXIST” sticker is the first one I have been ready to buy, display proudly, and love the look of confusion as people pass someone who will probably not even come close to fitting the stereotype of what they thought they would see.
One should read Sam Harris’, The End of Faith, to realize that there is little hope that we’ll ‘all’ COEXIST. Muslims, as mentioned above, are not to merely coexist. By the word, they either conform, and kill the rest.
BTW, where is the atheist symbol? Are religions not to tolerate that point of view?
interesting piece and posts, however i must correct one thing matt mottershead said. pagans and wiccans are not anti god. they simply have different beliefs. generally pagans believe in pre-christian religions, ususally polytheistic or monocentric polytheistic. wiccans are usually ecletic variations with belief in magic (universe responding to the intensity of ones will, similar to god answering prayers).
i would like to ask why some christians feel the need to i.d. themselves at every opportunity with words instead of actions, i.e. “i am a christian man/woman” in a time where they are the vast majority in this country. its like saying that christians are being persecuted. non christians are a tiny minority who simply want to live according to their own religious beliefs. i have great respect for the christian religion and for christians who know that acting as christ is more effective than confronting strangers, asking if they are saved or pushing their particular church as the “right” church.
Should we coexist with Hitler or a mass murderer
I am a Christian, and I do not believe that COEXIST is right at all. I believe in love and loving others, however, I refuse to accept the religious beliefs of others like Islam. I believe in taking a stand for what I believe in and I can’t stand for my own beliefs if I’m too busy listening to pagan religions? I will not sit here and be silent.
COEXIST is wrong.
That’s exactly what Satan would love to see Christians do… To sit back, stagnant, while other religions take over lost souls.
It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. Galatians 5:1… If we sit here, silent and “respecting” other religions then we are becoming slaves of this world and what it stands for.
Secondly, I absolutely REFUSE to trust a Muslim. 9/11 ring a bell?
And, thirdly… I won’t be open to hearing other religions because the Bible also says, “Wide is the gate, and broad is the path that leads to destruction and many enter through it. But, small is the gate and narrow is the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” Matthew 7:13&14.
With that being said- I am not so quick to open my mind too wide.
Lance: Thank you for getting the discussion going.
Paul Backus: AWESOME post!!!! “People don’t save people.. GOD does that!”
To COEXIST is to promote friendship, goodwill and mutual trust among ourselves. YES, there are religions that are so close minded that it makes it hard to believe we could all live in peace. YES, there are religions that encourage death upon those with opposing beliefs. To ALL these religions…. ONE word… COEXIST!!!!!
After reading ….and reading…and reading more. God, through His son Jesus Christ, wishes that nobody should perrish!
Faith – Everyone has to have faith! Even though they dont belive in anything….their faith is in nothing! When someone talks about having faith…. Think to yourself, what does that really mean? **Faith is the confident belief or trust in the truth or trustworthiness of a person, idea, or thing.
wish i could go on….. irl stuff. 😉
Have a good one!
I was recently in a friendly debate via facebook about homosexuality, and I came to a realization about my faith. I want to be perceived as open minded and not judgmental, but that is not Biblical. 1 Corinthians 5 specifically says to cast out the one who commits sexual immorality. So this COEXIST sticker is not Biblical, Christian or what God intended for us as Christians. This COEXIST sticker is liberal, and Christians all to often buy into this equality so that they don’t appear closedminded. The fact of the matter is, I am not closed minded because I can read the Bible and call a sin what it is, a sin. I am stating a fact (based on the message from God that I believe in), not judging someone for their sin.
Since most of these religions other than Christianity do not believe in “a way to heaven,” I don’t think the bumper sticker implies that any of them is a way to heaven. I also did not read it to mean that one must accept any religion. I took it at face value: coexist rather than try to blow the other guy(s) off the face of the earth.
Wow! I too, had seen the “Coexist” bumper sticker and was looking for a way to find one for myself when I found this article and the subsequent posts. I was never one to display bumper stickers, but I finally decided on one a year or so ago for something I truly believe in, endorse, and support… “American Red Cross, Save a Life” Saving a life is pretty easy to do just by giving some blood every two months.
I never really honestly considered how anyone could find a “Coexist” bumper sticker offensive. I had not seen one with all of the religious symbols mentioned in the comments above until recently. The one I saw was simply the letters.
I was born and raised a Catholic, I married a methodist, have great friends who are Jews and have known people who were atheist. I love them all and appreciate their respective views. I consider myself an eternal student of life. Just because I was born and raised a Christian, does not mean I know, understand, and believe everything that is written in both Testaments, believe in the concept of the Pope or supported the Crusades. I also do not believe that all Muslims supported the terrorists on 9/11 and that all Germans supported Hitler and his actions. I have great respect for the Jews, the Torah and Jewish traditions. I have had long conversations with rabbis, priests and ministers just trying to understand more about God. I have also seen Jews who ate shrimp, bacon and put up Christmas trees, Atheists who sang Christmas songs, and Methodists gamble. Uh oh, what a conundrum!
I honestly have fought with the concept of God and I personally find “fors and againsts” in most religions. All I know is, I believe in peace and find that it comes with a heavy price tag. I believe in right and wrong, I believe in standing up for what one believes, I believe in marrying the person you love, I believe in befriending people who share your sense of morality, I believe in helping complete strangers, I believe that many people take themselves way too seriously and I believe that if God drove a car, his bumper sticker would read “Save the Humans, Soon.” And after reading all the posts above I am wondering how many people find my “American Red Cross, Save a Life” bumper sticker offensive? And getting back to Lance’s original article . . . I once saw a bumper sticker that read “God Is My Co-Pilot” and as I sped up to catch a glimpse of the being on the passenger side – she did not look anything like what I pictured…oh boy, there I go taking myself too literally . . .
A word of caution…you may be strong enough to entertain some kind of common ground with a worldly peace slogan originating from the enemy, just keep in mind that this message leads many astray. I don’t think the founders of COEXIST would support a Christian message in anyway if the truth were displayed on our cars. Christ’s words in Matthew 10:34-36 state:
“Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn
” ‘a man against his father,
a daughter against her mother,
a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law –
a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’
I am a mother of eight children. Unfortunately, some of them embrace the new age religion, particularly coexisting the way that the founders of this slogan believe. If we are Christians, we should always show love to every race and religion, but love comes with boundaries.
I’m sure all these people are agnostic. It pretty much means the same but doesn’t get any respect. It’s just saying anyone could be right, and if there is a heaven surely the way to get in is to be a good kind person.
Danielle and Dave Koehler, your insane. You think being judgmental and telling people there going to hell is the right thing to do. I doubt god would want people like that in heaven. Your not doing a favor by trying to convert people, your being an annoyance and too nosy in peoples beliefs.
The other day I was listening to XM radio comedy channel when I heard an inspirational speaker, whos name I did not hear, say something like this, “A simple man once told me, The Bible says honor thy mother and father, it does not say honor they mother and father if they do not abandon you, or if they are not a drunk, or if they have not made mistakes in their life, it just says honor thy mother and father.” The inspirational speaker then goes on to talk about his father and his renewed relationship with him in his later years.
In this sprit, I say, coexist means… as The Bible says, love your neighbor, it does not say love your neighbor if they do not believe in the a different god, or if they are not a drunk, or if they have not made mistakes in their life, it just says love your neighbor.”
I generally agree with this article. I’m not one to jump to the same conclusions as the “Christians” mentioned in the article. I don’t see the point in calling my pastor. What is he gong to do about it? I don’t care if the cross is put next to other symbols. I believe the Bible when it says that Jesus is the only way to the Father (and heaven).
What I always thought whenever I see this sticker is that the person wanted all religions to get along and that they thought that there were many ways to heaven. You already know what I think about how to get to heaven. As for the other I find it interesting that someone would think that these different religions could get along. You have Islam, Judaism, Wiccan/Pagan, Yin&Yang, and Christianity…with a peace symbol and the symbol for male/female.
Looking at core characteristics of these religions….Islam wants to eliminate people who are not Islam…especially Jews and Christians. This goes back to the story of Abraham.
Judaism and Christianity are SOOO close, Judaism is still looking for the Messiah.
Wiccan/Pagan is pretty much anti Jesus/God and maybe Allah too but I don’t know for sure.
As Christians were are to love all and live lives that demonstrate the love that God has for all people. We haven’t done a good job of that.
Unfortunately Christians have the reputation of being “closed minded” and not wanting to be “in the world”.
I’m starting to go off on a random rabbit trail. So I will just say that as Christians we should be interacting with all people. We should be influencing those people with our lives. If all we do is run and tell the pastor what good is that going to do?
So…yeah, I agree with this article
I’ve never honestly understood why christians would react the way they react. Actually from the way our bible decribes it Jesus was pretty much one of the the first coexists. Quote : Love one another as I have loved you. what does that sound like?? Love and respect is limited to beliefs. i belive in christianity but coexistment is absolutely something i agree with. Someone’s religion is what makes a person who they are. If you’re not willing to respect someone’s religon you’re not willing to respect that person. every religion is beautiful and if someone refuses to see that, it’s their fault not another religion’s
They’re not all killers. Just because some extremists, such as Al Kaida, claim to be Muslim doesn’t mean they should represent the beliefs of the whole religion. Now that doesn’t seem fair, does it? There are many peaceful Muslims living here.
Are you forgetting that the Ku Klux Klan claimed to be Christian, and did everything in the ne of God? I bet Christians don’t want that group to represent their religion, and I’m sure Muslims feel the same way.
first of all , all 3 of the religons represented here have the same god just different stories behind them. secondly i am a christian and i have this sticker, i honestly dont see how anyone could have any problem with this sticker , the ideas behind it are nothing but good. the problem that people have with the cross being next to that of another religon is ridiculous… we need to learn to respect people as human beings no matter what religon you may be. and as far as those people who feel the need to contact there priests about this sticker, you should really get a reality check on what kind of christian you truly are because being judgemental like that is the last thing any good christian should do.
Jesus did say that we are to love our neighbor as ourselves. In John 14:6 Jesus said “I am THE way, and THE truth, and THE life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (“the” is singular, not plural). So if you believe the Bible is true, that Jesus is the only way to eternal life, and you refrain from gently and respectably correcting someone who does not believe in Jesus as the Son of God, and sharing the gospel of Christ with them, so that they can be saved, then you hate your neighbor. You are just making their ride to hell more comfortable by letting them coast on in unbelief, refusing to correct them. Jesus Himself said in John 3:18 “whoever does not believe [in Jesus] is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.” If a person worships another god besides Yahweh, then they are guilty of idolatry, and according to Colossians 3:5-6, it is on account of such things that the wrath of God is coming. If someone would appeal to Paul’s life and ministry, they would see in 2 Corinthians 11 that Paul would not put up with the proclomation of “another Jesus” or a “different gospel.” Read the book of Acts, specifically Acts 17. Paul reasoned numerous times with “religious” people in order to persuade them to believe in Jesus, that they may have life in Him. He did not tolerate their religion. So if you follow Jesus Christ religious tolerance (i.e. “coexisting”) is impossible. The idea of “coexisting” is not found anywhere in the Bible. For God is not a god among many. He is the one true living God and there is no other. “To whom then will you compare me, that I should be like him? Says the Holy One.” And “I am the Lord, and there is no other, besides me there is no God” (Isaiah 40:25; 45:5). For the author of this article to say “It’s not about who is right, and who is wrong,” obviously cares about what is right and wrong. Otherwise, he would not be writing this article to assert what he believes is right, namely coexisting. Furthermore, there is no prerequisite of having to hear the beliefs of another person before sharing the gospel with them. The prerequisite is that all are sinners and therefore, all must be saved and there is salvation in no one else but Jesus Christ. To want to coexist is, in essence, idolatry. For whoever wants to tolerate the religious practices of man rather than promote worship of God, loves the approval of man more than they do Jesus. So if we love our neighbor as ourselves, we will tell them the truth.
I find the sticker to be part of a greater deception. I have heard far too many times that Christians need to be more accepting and open minded. What part of “Depart from me, I never knew you.” is accepting and open minded. There is but one way to the Father and that is through his Son. Do not be confused about this. It is very simple Heaven or Hell, a man cannot serve two masters.
My intention is not to offend but to promote and direct you to the Cross.
Good Things!
I think that this is, at the most, a well intentioned article! Though I would say that it is not a well informed (Biblically) article. The Christian cannot “coexist” with other beliefs, foremost because the knowledgable (knowing Jesus) Gospel proclaimer will be hated and persecuted by those who hate Christ.. “if the world hates you, know that it hated me first. If you were of the world, the world would love you as it’s own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefor the world hates you” Jn 15:18-19 And another biblically ignorant thought is that we best love by being accepting and understanding.. Now don’t get me wrong I believe the Christian is to walk in love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, meekness, goodness, self control and faithfulness… But we do this by walking obediently to the call of Christ, to take up our crosses and deny ourselves and follow him! Not by schooling ourselves in other religions but by being well schooled in the scripture and well acquainted with word and nearness of God in Christ! So all this to say, the way we reveal The true Christ to others is by drawing near to him in such a way that we are able to make him plain to others! I’m typing this from my phone so I have not spoken as I would of liked to at length, but I would encourage you all to be looking to Christ, praying that you may know him, and be filled to the fullness of him! Grace to you all and peace!
i see things a bit differently, but then again i’m not evangelical. coexist is not to say there is many ways to God and/or heaven. It is more a concept of stopping radicalism, which always leads to violence. people of many faiths can ‘coexist’ just as anyone w. a job can coexist w. a coworker who has difference of goals. there are many denominations that work together and even a push for nondenominational. every religion is just a way to peace. this includes islam. radicals going off half cocked w. half the truth or a passage taking out of context is where problems start. i have found a deist belief to be the most peaceful for my life. i have issues w. every major religion. i have issues w. pure science. why is it so hard to not push our faith on others? even to the point of violence? thats the point of this sticker.
I love what you’ve written here. I had a debate with someone about this not to long ago because we passed a car with that bumper sticker and right off the bat they said they hated it. I asked why and was replied by “Its a Christian thing I guess…those religions cant get along. And they all just want to kill each other” Which some of that is true. Some extremists in their own religion do just want to stir up trouble and start a war, but then there are others of us who do just want to get along with everybody. I am a Christian; my best friend is a Wiccan, but I love her none the less. She has never tried to push her religion on me as her family did to her. She was abused and cast out of her family when she was 14 because she wanted to study Wiccan. How is that christian??? Christianity is supposed to be about love and respect for your neighbor and fellow man. I can tell you I would %100 listen to someone more who was always really nice to me and showed me love than someone who pushed their religion at me by telling me “Im a sinner and going to hell!” I’ve been in many churches and been around christian people my whole life and to tell you the truth most are hypocrits. (not saying that im not either sometimes but we are human. we all make mistakes) To expell a young girl out of a christian school because she pregnant…the time when she needs the most support…is disgusting. I wish people werent so judgemental…some of the best people I’ve know have been a different religion or race.
Lev.19:18: “Love thy neighbor as thyself.” Not treat them like trash…because Im sure you wouldnt treat yourself like trash or he dirt under your feet. You would want to be loved and accepted…everybody does.
i personally must admit i think whomever it was to come up with the idea that it helped to either prolonge or should we say bring about an awareness that something had to be done to ensure such measures may have an opportunity to be addressed upon an orderly format of a platform for the moment but also for tomorrows future the world globe were becoming unraveled more intolerable with one another mainly as an side affect from the new era of time that technology and the internet were ushering in beliefs began worldwide and globally to take the front seat as to differences of identity its amazing how that when were not up under some sort of a spotlight and our friends peers and associates cannot see who we really are the new era of technology brought exposure not only to our physical exposure but exposure of the mind subsconsciously so many began to act and react just in case they were up under a glass ceiling and before you know it just as you would have a room of 100 people so also would you have a 100 people intolerable of one another the majority of the worlds populus are hinged or divided by religious beliefs or faith;based simply because they may be observed by a peer although business may be being conducted they feel they cant be seen conversating with someone of a different belief principle which may be shown ostentatiously or outer demeanor of appearance i can remember at the united nations level a few years back per a news clipping report source and many representatives of different beliefs attended an assembly to foster their ability to to tolerate one another iam quite sure it was a hard or difficult agenda to pull off yet it was necessarily important in order to reduce global warming/friction of intolerability during that initial stage of foreseeable problematics another reason it had to be addressed was because there was a war being conducted and handled as if it were a war solely based upon religious belief which perhaps again began to erode bonds between some long standing faithbeliefs of similarity yet not exactness a center point therefore had to be established to minimize the threads from becoming to brittle to me i personally think the bumper sticker says hey look guys the world isnt getting ant larger land wise and with todays technology we have to become more accustomed to accept people for whomsoever they may be if we expect to exist a little bit longer or until the world is totally chaotic with no civilized restraints but i also believed it were construed together so that perhaps there are no wrong answers to entice a broad range realm of thoughts of diversity therefore causing for the mind to become more creative with each day gaining a different thought as to how each may differ yet having a basic rule of law for gorvening such a body of diversity also it must act as a balance mechanism for ensuring that it may not be ill used the challenge or hardest part would be to present islam as a civilized beautiful art of belief with poetic expessions of beauty of favorableness if we can do that then we would have reduced a level of toleration by half for the longer that it lingers it continues to erode virtousness from the other sects of stabilize beliefs and so i close with emphasis that we exist and coexist together by it being only one earth a concept we should emphasize with and for tomorrows generations of wisdom understanding of inheritance
very well said! this article made me smile 🙂 and im looking forward to sharing with others!
There is a prolife coexist bumper sticker at stickervoice.com ! Check it out!
I loved the sticker the first time I saw it. I am not a person who puts any sticker on my vehicles, however, the message was clearly evident the first time I saw it and I felt it represented my true feelings. I knew it meant that we must all get along, regardless of our religious and cultural beliefs. We can all learn a lot from each other. Why do some of you feel that only certain people will go to heaven? Who said that your religion is the “right” one? I believe that we are all children of the same god. All prophets are right as they understand their relationship with god. I don’t understand the fighting between religions. As I’ve always stated, “Why do many of the world’s religions fight between themselves?”, because ,”We all basically believe in the same god”. I am not a religious person at all. I do not attend church, although I was baptized in the Methodist church. My children were also baptized but we only have gone to church a few times. I have always taught my daughters’ “Spirituality” and such things as Karma , Love and empathy. Our whole family is peaceful and in touch with god in our own way. They also love meeting people of every faith and culture as we have traveled the world and just in our own neighborhood. As, Mark Twain once said “Travel is the enemy of bigotry, narrow-mindedness and prejudice”
Thought about this alot. Good can’t coexist with evil. It seems to me at least one of those religions is, in a large part, evil. You wouldn’t put symbols for the Nazi’s (Hitler), KKK, and pedophiles on a bumper sticker and say “Coexist” would you? This bumper stick presupposes that all these religions are “good.”
Lance,
you are preaching coexist to the wrong group. Why are Christians supposed to coexist with an Islamic culture that wants to kill every Christian and Jew on the face of the earth? No thank you, I am a Christian and no where in the Bible does it tell me to coexist with someone who is determined to kill me. You are misleading millions upon millions of people.
Go spread your false religion to the devil and his minions, we Christians aren’t falling for it.
Well said Christopher! Some of the other religions are not tolerant of Christianity. We are to love. We are to love the person enough to tell them the true gospel so they don’t go to hell.
I am Pagan and believe in coexistence. I can accept any and all faiths with the same face. I spend a lot of time on Facebook argueing about accepting others as they are, especially in the religion dept. My religion helped lose my last job and has helped me stay job-free for the last 5 years, unfortunately lol Now there is no call for Pagan history teachers anymore lol I always was forced to hide what I did, although it was more, not calling attention to what I was then hiding it. All people and faiths have something to offer. I always look at it as if the mystery of the universe and life itself as a giant puzzle. Every religion out there was given 1 piece of the puzzle. As religions learn to accept other faths then their piece gets added to the puzzle. Most choose to withhold their pieces still so the puzzle is not complete-one day maybe we will complete the puzzle and all get the answers we seek but until then we can hope and pray-each in their own way-for coexist.
Damn Liberals! Go COEXIST with your Muslim friends! Me? No thanks! I am Existing Fine the way I am , within my Christian/Jewish (Mostly White) Community. I think, point made…. F#*#$ng liberals.
I call myself a Christian, I personally dont see anything wrong with the sticker… I bought it because I just want everyone to get along… I believe what I believe. It is what it is. I think in order for us all to see the big picture we need to get along with each other and then find truth… with whatever it is y’all call truth… personally I believe Jesus is truth. I also believe love and peace with each other would stop a lot of non sense fighting, arguing, and violence. Is it really that hard to get along?!?!
I am full-blown Athiest. I love learning about other people’s religions, learning how they think about it, the whole story behind the entire religion, everything! I love learning about this stuff, but I wouldn’t believe it myself. I am a huge believer that you do what you want when, where, and however you want to do it! You believe what you want to believe because you are a human and are entitled to your opinion and your beliefs! I don’t have a car of my own, I’m only fourteen, but I am working on painting a huge version of it on my wall. I am adding rainbow colors for all the homosexual people out there, but otherwise, I am keeping everything the same so that I can see every day when I get out of bed what I believe should happen and what I feel people should do, because there is no religion or practice out there that is wrong.
Theosophy. The Third Reich didn’t work out, so the Fourth is being set up. All religions united. But under who’s leadership? Not hard to figure out. Taking the red pill = biting the apple. Return to the Golden Age of Saturn, where global population is kept under 500 million. Saturn, god of harvest. We’re the crop. Organized slaughter…in the name of peace, of course. ALL eight symbols on bumper sticker represent Saturn. The New Man will be completely androgynous and will worship his ‘Mother Earth’. “Get along” or die. Nazis didn’t lose the war, they relocated. Stop the nonsense and get your act together, all of you. Learn your history and stop fantasizing. Your minds are being molded just as the Germans and the Russians were. Notice how everyone is writing the same comment over and over again? The initiates told us a hundred years ago that they would “restore the mysteries” in a hundred years. It’s a hundred years later and here we are. Children can’t add 5 plus 2 or spell three letter words, but they can recycle, plant trees, and lecture us on getting along, can’t they? Don’t you get it? When will you learn? Snap out of it. You’re being set up. The peace organizations WANT YOU TO DIE. “Going green”…the last color of the time cycle in your little windows logo in the corner, when time “resets”, the populations are wiped out, and the remaining few can “get back to nature.” The peace groups are funded by the same people who fund our wars. Don’t you understand WHY? For crying out loud PUT SOME EFFORT INTO IT. Luke 17:33
Hey guys I just wanted to share some insight on this whole coexist thing.
Sometimes when living as a Christian, it can be easy to let your mind focus on earthly matters like bills or relationships and all that fun stuff lol. Colossians 3:2 says “Set your mind on things above, not on earthly things.”
When I first read that I thought, “Yeah, okay, I guess that means I need to start thinking about heaven,” among other things, and you know, as born again believers we are to live our lives founded on the truth of the bible.
Jesus spoke of many things, one that He is the Truth (John 14:6), but He also made a promise that often escapes our thoughtlife day in and day out, and that’s the promise that He’s coming back. The reason I’m bringing all this up is because of the implications of this coexist bumper sticker.
If we are to be heavenly-minded then we have to be aware of the will of God. It is God’s will for Jesus to return. Right now, we are rapidly approaching the day that God has set for our Lord’s return. No one knows the day or the hour, but we will be able to tell how close we are by the signs of the times.
I say all this to get to this: the book of revelation reveals the conditions of the world when Jesus will return, mainly that before He comes back, the Antichrist will come to power. We need to be aware of the subtle things that are being used to facilitate this rise to power. Satan is going to try to “unify” the world with a New World Order, as well as bring all the religions together to create a one world religion. Why? So that there may be “peace” among nations.
I agreed with the first half of this article that if you’re not willing to listen about what other people believe how are they going to listen to you? That’s a very important part of showing the love of Christ to others. But we also need to realize that these people’s souls are in danger! Its one thing to love and respect another person but it’s another thing entirely to not try to help someone who’s unknowingly walking to their death.
The people of this world are being deceived and it’s up to us who know the truth to share the gospel so that the lost may be found.
There’s a video on YouTube called 23 Hours Dead. It’s the testimony of a young girl (18) who was shown heaven and hell by Jesus so that the reality of both may be known. It’s a very powerful video. It’s about an hour and twenty minutes long but it’s well worth it! We’re in the end times and every day we get closer and closer to when Jesus will return because He WILL return. Don’t let this be something that scares you but let it be a fire to get you out sharing the gospel!!
“Jesus said, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one may come to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)
God bless!
I am a Christian and laugh when I see funny bumper stickers. I have also looked to see what he people look like that put on certain bumper stickers and sometimes its predictable, say like Mary Kay stickers or NA. I agree with the premise that as Christians we are to love others because all of us are created, “in the image of God”. However the Bible does not express that I accept the values of others that are contrary to Christian values and approve of them. I love people that are gay but I will never accept their behavior as Christian no matter how “progressive” our nation may claim to be. The Old Testament is in the Bible to teach us how a Nation strayed from God and how He handled them. As a Christian I love Muslims and Jews and all others but I can not approve of what Jesus has called sin. The biggest harm (smoke screen) that Lance employees is to suggest that we cover the truth with tolerance (another popular bumper sticker) and water down our own values to respect theirs in the name of mutual respect. The pluralist, universality premise is a red herring. Muslims do not wish to coexist with Jews and Christians. In conclusion so as not to be labeled “close minded” I would retort that Christianity has fostered tolerance for other faiths more than all the rest. Atheist are responsible for more murders that all the “Christian” wars. Count: Ginghus Khan, Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot. So I leave you with this thought. As Christians we have nothing to fear. The Bible tells us the God created the Nations and religions (wow) and nothing happens without it first passing through his fingers. We can dialogue with other faiths (see I agree with you Mr. Lance) but we can only agree to the point that they know (or have some truths) revealed to them but not the ABSOLUTE TRUTH which is found only in the King of Kings. “No man has seen the Father expect the one that came from the Father- Jesus Christ. Read you Bible and the truth will be revealed to you. Judgement day is coming and we will give an account. Ask a Muslim he will tell you the same! So will a Jew. As for the peace sign and the equality sign I don’t even want to start with the current demise of American Culture (self lovers and not God lovers). The rest of the world is laughing at us and our bumper stickers and waiting for the arrogance to be punished. I love this Nation and I pray for revival but after reading the response I am saddened that they are no man left to give a defense for the Gospel. Ideas like tolerance and respect for other religions will not outlast the Truth of the Holy Bible. Doubt this and you doubt the Power of God.
End of my statement.
May you all find the peace and joy that surpasses all understanding.
The Coexist stickers are ironic. It’s a progressive trick meant to diminish all religions under the guise of being high minded, tolerant and loving. Most who put the sticker on their cars are not religious people at all. Those who are religious who put the sticker on their car don’t know they are part of the joke. The Coexisties are making fun of religions and religious people and making a ton of money off the ignorant and easily manipulated..
Saul Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals, Rules 4 & 5:
4. “Make the enemy live up to its own book of rules. You can kill them with this, for they can no more obey their own rules than the Christian church can live up to Christianity.”
5. “Ridicule is man’s most potent weapon. It is almost impossible to counteract ridicule. Also it infuriates the opposition, which then reacts to your advantage.”
“Lest we forget at least an over-the-shoulder acknowledgment to the very first radical: from all our legends, mythology, and history… the first radical known to man who rebelled against the establishment and did it so effectively that he at least won his own kingdom — Lucifer.” Dedication in Saul Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals,
You cant “coexist” with people who want to kill you.
The “coexist” bumper stickers are against Christian sensibilities, because it promotes a philosophy, namely relativism and pluralism in religious matters. Ofcourse Christians are coexisting with other faiths and do not promote intolerance or violence, and should welcome learning about them and treating everyone in a dignified and respectful passion irregardless of their creed. That is so obvious that it is left unsaid. Christians committing acts of unnecessary violence or intolerance against those of different beliefs are not acting according to Christian orthodoxy.
What this bumper sticker subtly promotes is the relativistic view of religion. That one religion is as good as another because it is not a matter of which religion is true and therefore my duty to follow it, rather that all religions are false, and therefore it doesn’t matter which religion I follow, as long as it makes me “spiritually happy”. This philosophy, stemming from an individualistic perspective, frames the other side as being old-fashioned, dogmatic, intolerant, judgmental, etc. These are not neutral terms, but rather loaded with negative emotional connotation. If all religions are false, then they are ALL equal theologically, and it doesn’t matter what I follow, in fact religious choice becomes a matter of insignificance and indifference. All the religions cannot be true, since they make numerous and obvious contradictory claims, so we are left with two options. If any of the religions are true, that religion is superior to all others. People can be free to believe what they like, but that does not mean its not false. If I believe my religion is true, which any true believer in a religion should, then obviously it cannot be considered equal to others. This bumper sticker promotes a false philosophy under the guise of promoting tolerance and love for all religions, which no one denies, other then few extreme groups, majority Islamic.
peace on earth and good will to all. what so hard about that
Peace on earth and good will to all. What so hard about this?
Let’s be real here. A bunch of poor people got around a fire and wrote a story about a magician. Jesus did exist but what he did most likely was fable. I believe in a God because of the the unanswered questions of science and there is just as much evidence that all of the other characters of religion existed as well. To say Christianity is the ONLY WAY is ignorant and everyone should keep an open mind to other’s beliefs. The coexist sticker probably just means that the world should assimilate their cultures whether they agree with each other or not. Until there is sufficient proof that there is only ONE way then I don’t feel the need to belittle other members of society.
I observe nearly weekly that alleged Christians are not giving the clothes off their back to the homeless, and certainly not inviting them into their homes to give them shelter.
I deduce that they don’t follow the Gospels in such things, because that would inconvenient their lives of pursuing money, and having their own cars, and houses — of gaining and keeping objects.
Yet I see over and over how the same alleged Christians like to quote the Bible when they want to condemn others.
I am driven to the conclusion that the Bible is merely a tool they use to justify their own desires, and to condemn others.
It’s hard to co-exist when you’re enemy trying to kill yourself ….
Sadly, most of those commenting here have CLEARLY missed the mark (by 100 light years) and have read into the meaning of the “Coexist” bumper sticker. Of course, many simply used this as their opportunity to spew their overzealous rhetoric about their alleged faith while others have used this opportunity to blatantly attack other faiths.
The purpose of the bumper sticker is simply to encourage all of us to get along peacefully and respect the fact that we all have different belief and we can STILL get along peacefully. Period. Don’t pontificate and add to the end. Fin. Done. End of meaning. Nothing else follows. Move along….no more to see here.
Who else has dealt with SIN besides CHRIST? Nothing is offered anywhere in any other religion to take away our sin. Christ came to take upon Himself, to have imputed to Him, to have laid upon His soul, the guilt, the iniquity of us all. Only in this way was the obstacle that stood in the way of reconciliation between God and man removed. If you say all religions are the same then you are saying Christ’s atoning work is for naught. All pagan religions teach that we are saved by what we have done, pure human merit. Christianity teaches that we are saved by what Christ has done, pure grace of God. Please do not say you are a Christian and have a coexist sticker on your car. The truth is if you have a coexist bumper sticker you are denying Christ. You are saying the atoning work of Christ on the cross, His suffering and dying for sins is for naught. You are saying that all religions are the same. They are NOT the same. Take away the wrapping and get to the nitty-gritty, are not all religions the same? Christianity is diametrically opposite in that it teaches that it’s founder,Christ the Lord suffered and died for those who believe in
Him. All other religions teach that you save yourself. All of them. quid pro quo, do this, do that, save yourself.
Christianity is so unique because it’s founder, Christ is unique, and He declared He is the only way. None of the
other religions even make that claim. They don’t even go there. None of them state” you will go to Heaven if you
believe in me.” There will be a time when we all meet with Christ, and the founder of any other religion, then that
day will come, and the Christian with joy, and all of them with sorrow will bow down together and confess He is
Lord. We will all come to God. The question is, how will you come to Him? For Christians we will come to Him as our loving Father. For ALL others you will come to Him as your judge. to me it’s a no brainer! I will come to God as my Father because I entered “by the narrow gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are MANY who go in by it” (Matt 7:13). Jesus taught that more who die didn’t go to Heaven, they took their coexist bumper sticker with them to Hell. That is the beginning of a fascinating story.
June 13 and beyond, Richard Smith and others have expressed the (false) sentiments that “Muslims don’t want to coexist with Christians and Jews”. Richard then goes on to espouse the details of his “Christian beliefs” and how the rest of us are “apparently ignorant of Christianity” (according to his verbiage). On June 21, Mike claims that “You can’t ‘coexist’ with people that want to kill you”.
To Richard and other overzealous Christians, most non-immigrant Muslims in the USA were one-time Christians. Think about it for ½ a second. What is the predominant religion in the U.S.? What was the ONLY religion that the slaves were even allowed to practice? So, PLEASE put that “we’ll just share our ‘Christian values’ with the heathens and they’ll see the error in their ways mentality” to its grave. You have no values that are unique to Christianity!!
Too many posting here have made the (again, FALSE) claim that the goal of the bumper sticker is to have others “accept the beliefs of other faiths”. WRONG!! That is a bold-faced LIE!! Stop with the lies!! This bumper sticker does not want you to change your faith or even your view (opinion) of other faiths. I don’t really care what someone knows about my faith. But I WILL correct them If I see and/or hear them LYING against my faith….and/or what I believe and/or practice in my faith. Example: I’ve NEVER had to desire to kill ANYONE simply because they did not believe in the things that I believe. That’s a person choice. God gave us all the ability to have free will. We don’t have to abide by His will….willingly. It’s a matter of choice to do so. Some don’t believe in God at all. We can all love them and treat them with respect….and we all don’t have to be Christians to do so. I see the “faith X is better than all the other faiths” mentality as a petty squabble of children….who, in fact, are actually insecure in their faith. So, keep on spouting that mentality, if you want.
The SOLE PURPOSE of the bumper sticker is to encourage the believers of the many faiths that exist in this country to get along in peace & harmony. Sure, we can have disagreements. But it encourages us to disagree without being disagreeable!
I believe Christ is the only way to heaven but I do believe we should try to peacefully coexist together…
The irony of this is that we can’t all peacefully coexist together without Christ ruling and reigning in all our hearts.
COEXIST is a message of peace, no more, no less. If you see it as a symbol of hate against your religion you need to examine who your are, why you believe the things you do, who you spend your time with. This world has enough hate. I believe our religion keeps us from understanding others and knowing and understanding others as well as ourself. I believe in GOD. I challenge anyone to show me the the right religion and I will obey their GOD. Until I have prove that only one reigion is correct, I will believe in ONE GOD, one of PEACE, LOVE, MERCY, HUMANITY FOR ALL, not one of separation, hate, mistrust of the unknown and others. Peace and love to all
I think people are taking this a bit too far. It’s not a personal attack on Christianity, it’s just a bumper sticker. Plus, no one said anything about having to join any of the represented religious affiliations . . . it’s just tolerance. No one has to sign up an join anything . . . no one is converting . . . it’s just supposed to mean that we as a melting pot society have evolved enough to coexist with each other. Wow. And yet we are fighting what Jesus would think about a bumper sticker . . .
People tend to forget that our Servicemen are not fighting all Muslims; they are literally teamed up with one side of a Muslim country to fight another side of the same countfy. Those Servicemen certainly must coexist with the Muslim soldiers that are on our side. And not all U.S. Soldiers are ChristIan, just as not all Iraqui soldiers believe the same as their families. The point is, we should coexist here on Earth. We don’t, but we should. I don’t want to blow up mosques and synogogues and most Jews and Muslims don’t want to blow up churches. You coecist every day with people when you go to the grocery store, a park, a library, or your job. That’s not to say you can’t pray for them and even share your faith with them in a peaceful way, if you are an evangelical Christian for example, but coexisting simply means we don’t want to blow each othrt up. Surely you want your children to live in a world of hatred?
Man you are right! i personally am not christian, but i used to be, and it was the exact same biggots that hated the coexist stickers that drove me from it! But you have hit the nail on the head with that article! You Have to love, and tolerate others and what they believe! not hate them for their seprate beliefes that you! as Douglas Adams said “If you dont change your beliefes, you will be the same person. Is that a good thing?”
Ani Adonai Rofecca
there are people out there that WILL NOT coexist with you unless you worship the same god and way they do or they WILL KILL YOU no matter what you say or think. So to me we need to protect ourselves and one another or we WILL DIE at the hands of these radicals. So COEXIST is not a reallistic option people!!!!!!!! You will not change THEM. Time to wake up. Your dreams will be the end of you if you dont.
Why not take it at face value? coexist with everyone, every faith, no faith. We are all one kind, mankind. We don’t need to blow up the innocent or have wars based on religion. It may be a lot to ask but it’s not impossible. Peace be with you.
I suppose the difficulty is, if this sticker is in support of coexistence, and you are in support of tolerating differing religious opinions, is it not then unfair to condemn certain christians on their opinion on this matter? the opinion not to coexist may seem unjust and unchristian, but the condemnation of this then goes agains the notion of coexistence.
and just to note, not all christians are like this. catholics are generally fully supportive of ecumenism and interfaith dialogue.
The byword of today’s world is TOLERANCE. The sad things that Christians have to understand is that the Antichrist will be totally INTOLERANT of every form of worship and religion if he is not the center of it. We as Christians do coexist in this world with all men, but we should not take on the appearance, even a tiny bit, of connection with any worship that Jesus Christ is not the One and Only Son of the Most High God. If we do, then we are putting graven images before Him. Dear brothers and sisters, that is a no-no. Don’t let the sweet talk of ‘tolerance’ lure you into worshipping or appearing to worship any god, but Jehovah. We are commissioned to go and tell the world the Gospel of Christ. Satan hates that and he is sly in his tactics to get us to stop. He loves the coexist bumper sticker when a Christian displays it. Think, read the Bible, be very careful not to be a stumbling block to the lost or new Christians. We have to answer for what kind of fruit we produce here on earth. God bless you all!!!!
JESUS love each and everyone of you but hates sin.HE IS THE ONLY WAY. to heaven HE IS THE ONLY TRUTH. EVERTHING ELSE IS A LIE……HE IS THE LIFE ….HERE AND AFTER. Romans 3:23 For ALL have SINNED and fall short of the GLORY OF GOD…….Romans 6:23 The wages of Sin is DEATH………Romans6:23 But the gift of GOD IS ETERNAL LIFE through JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD….. it is a gift….Romans 5:8 GOD demonstrates His own LOVE for US you and me in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. Romans 10:13 WHOEVER will call on the name of the LORD WILL BE SAVED…. HIS NAME IS JESUS….Romans 10:9-10 If YOU confess with Your mouth JESUS as LORD OF YOUR LIFE and BELIEVE in your HEART that GOD raised JESUS FROM THE DEAD, YOU SHALL BE SAVED: FOR WITH THE HEART BELEIVES,RESULTING IN RIGHTEOUSNESS,AND WITH THE MOUTH HE CONFESS,resulting in SALVATION………..IN Revelation 3:20 JESUS SAYS TO YOU…….BEHOLD I STAND AT THE DOOR AND KNOCK,…….IF…..ANYONE……HEARS MY VOICE AND …… OPEN THE DOOR …. I WILL COME IN…..THAT DOOR IS YOUR HEART you do have free will he has given that to you can take his gift or reject him he does LOVE YOU it the simple truth…… this life comes and goes so fast…..i tell you in love becuz someone told me so now i tell you JESUS SAID YOU MUST BE BORN AGAIN,OR HE OR SHE CAN NOT ENTER HEAVEN…… HE MADE A WAY THE ONLY WAY WHEN THERE WAS NO WAY…. it s as ez as a prayer for your heart ….JESUS iam a sinner. I understand i deserve death for my sins ……I ask you to forgive me of all my sins and to save me.i want your gift I give you my LIFE I believe you died for me and rose again and now you are in HEAVEN and that you Jesus your love not a religion or church membership but your LOVE SAVES ME. THANK YOU JESUS AMEN … YOU ARE SAVED GET BAPTIZED IN HIS NAME JESUS AND RECEIVE THE HOLY SPIRIT HE IS YOU HELPER YOUR GUIDE YOU CANT LIVE THE CHIRSTIAN LIFE BY YOUR SELF …… GET THE WORD OF GOD THE BIBLE ….. GO TO A CHURCH…. ONE THAT BELIEVE AND LIVES WHAT THE WORD OF GOD SAY…… NOW THIS IS ME WHEN YOU GO TO CHURCH GO TO KNOW AND LOVE THE ONE WHO DIED FOR YOU AND SAVED YOU NOT THE PEOPLE THERE NOT THE PASTOR TO KNOW AND TO LOVE JESUS WHO FIRST LOVE US THANK YOU FOR READING THIS AND TAKING THE TIME FOR IT IS IN LOVE I SAY THIS
Christoids have to coexist. Why? The majority of people in this world do NOT believe that Christ was god. Thats the way it always has been and always will be.
He was in fact a fictional character based on the many messiahs of the many salvation cults of the Roman first century.
My favorite Bible verse: Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones…Psalm 137:9
A god didn’t write this, a horrible petty racist people did.
The number ONE problem with the whole nosence is simple. “IT WILL NEVER/EVER/EVER HAPPEN” So get over yourself and take this stupid sticker off your Prious and deal with it.
The good news is that there is no god controlling us. We are free. The bad news is the same. We are all alone. Let us ‘man up’ and run this world proper. We can do this alone.
I just got this sticker for my car… Paired it with another sticker quoting the dalia lama, it says ” my religion is very simple, my religion is kindness” all you people claiming to “coexist” but still really believing to yourself that the only way to heaven is your god is ridiculous. I don’t believe in any gods of any sort, I was raised in a very Christian home, when I finally went out on my own I started to realize how ridiculous all the rules were and how contradictory every part of the religion was and so I abandoned my beliefs. Since then I have never been happier, I live my life in a more positive way, not judging anyone, to me god is just something people made up a long time ago to explain things that could not be explained otherwise because they did not have any science, to continue to practice these writings and beliefs is like practicing medical theories from 2000 years ago ad expecting people to live. But with that, I believe that with everyone you must be respectful to get respect, regardless of what a person believes, that does not make them any less of a human being, everyone is important, and everyone is capable of doing amazing things. There is evil in the world, within certain religions as well as outside of them, I hope that one day we can all stop being so hateful and get passed the religious superstitions but that is completely unrealistic because that would mean entire cultures would have to change and because of that we must all learn to coexist.
Justin Case – I sympathize with you, as you are only trying to stick to the topic at hand, which is peacefully existing with all people ( not debating which religion is right or wrong ). It is obvious you are educated, and understand the meaning of this sticker. I think many people are becoming very defensive. They are seemingly allowing themselves to be guided by fear based & angered responses, which implicates not being fully grounded or secure in their own beliefs. God (however you’d like to see him ) is indeed in all of us. I respect your views, and thank you for representing intelligence. If we could all learn to love and respect each other as the sticker represents, we could end many wars. Concluded thought – If you are part of any one religious group, ask yourself how your god would express him/her self. Would he communicate with defensiveness, judgement, and anger ? Or with love and understanding? This is the definition of co-exist – love & understanding regardless of belief.
As a long time internet user(since1997) i’ve seen more than thousands of sites come into creation that exist solely to attract (or demand) explanation of why people belive the things they believe and for the most part,it seems to to me that most of these kinds of sites are created by people who are in defiance of the christian religion./ for some strange reason many believe that an overall explanation to society is required.that’s hogwash..freedom of religion in the usa means freedom to believe without being required to explain or to give excuses or argument or debate with anyone.//i generally avoid sites such as this for that reason.NOBODY should be questioned why they believe in christianity or any other religion ,then to be under pressure to argue their reasons for believing only to be put down by some idiot who doesn’t understand that believing and practicing one’s faith is a freedom.sites that were created with the theme that “we deserve an explanation” should be avoided by anyone who has a a set of religious beliefs of ANY kind as the same thing develops every time–arguments /there’s only one answer to tolerance vs acceptance=if i’m of a certain religion that believes certain things that are in opposition to other religious beliefs,then naturally i believe they’re wrong.that’s tolerance.to accept they’re right would mean to agree with them and my beliefs are wrong.you can’t have both.otherwise you’re asking for a universal religion.i’m a christian but i believe that others have the right to believe what they believe without argument from me.i’ve had people wanting to argue they’re beliefs against mine but i quickly explain tht it’s they’re right to believe(and even to teach in their meetings or groups) what they believe just as it’s my right to believe (and to teach in my church)what i believe.i’m not going to sit there and argue with them.i frequently sit and listen to people speak of their beliefs and i find it intersting to do so.more often than not i don’t even discuss my beliefs but i sit and listen to them/but often, they begin asking me what i believe and of coourse if i do,then i’m grilled and criticised.but people claim that it’s christians who persit to argue?i don’t think so.and by the way..jesus’ real name isn’t yashua..it’s yeshua…just mentioning.and i do use that name when i pray.people need to stop arguing about beliefs.how to go about it stop explaining “why you believe ” in online forums.it ALWAYS ends up in criticism.
maybe i’m 2 young to understand this fully but i believe people are people no matter what they may believe. we all share human emotions and are all the same inside whether our thought process is the same or not. theres no right or wrong when it comes to religion just faith and hope. so chill people stop freaking out over a bumper sticker if you dont agree with it, great, if you do, great!….um so yeah thats the end to my rant.
Wow. Deep stuff! I saw this bumper sticker on the road again today and decided to look it up. So glad I found this! 😀 Totally answered my question. And you’re Christian! Ah! 🙂
RE: The Coexist Bumper Sticker ~ from the Beginning.
Wow! Yea, I did see this sticker a few times, and maybe my mind went the wrong way about it too, maybe b/c it has all the symbols together it looks taboo. Lance, you opened a new view for me. I think Jesus did Coexist but He didnt need a bumper sticker to promote Him. Most of us are so caught up in promoting what we do that we have caught ourselves in a monster “I’m right, You’re wrong” debate. I think that everyone should be respected for what their beliefs are, whatever it is. That’s the awesome right God gave us, the right to choose.
..oh yeah.. and I dont put bumper stickers on my carrito either, Jesus knows I love Him and I … Coexist.
We as a people truly believe that we need direction and this is why so many people are Christians. I personally understand this mentality. I also find that the fear of hell is what makes those believers such strong ones. Do you not eat shellfish? Do you not cut your hair? Do you losely interpret the bible to meet your own personal desires? I love when bible rules are disregarded. That gay cousin or sibling that you love no differently, although God will never accept him or her. I was raised as a born-again christian and dated one for many years as a young adult. My life was no more/less wonderful or choatic than it is now. Religion is warefare and it’s continuing to damage our society. Love people just because and do it without wearing a false belt of religion. It’s just not necessary. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gone to church and have placed their hands over me, claiming that they feel the spirit of God: Simply because I’m a spirit-filled person. Godless, but still fantastic and vibrant.
COLIN: There is a God and only ONE and EVERY knee shall bow and confess that he is Lord when he returns and YOUR knees will bow and confess the that He is! It’s about Faith. Ifurthermore, te Islam faith believe in NOT ONlY killing their own but others’ as well. P.S. even the devil knows there is a GOD and Hell is is final destination and ALL those who reject God (Jesus Christ).
A christian should not have a co exsist bumper sticker. The signs in that word mean different things. look them up. and that stuck the cross of calvary at the end. To basically say SHUTUP. Don’t go around proclaiming your message of Jesus at the cross its in the sticker too. Let me say this Jesus was always set apart and his message should not and will not co exsist. I know I will not agree nor applaud false relgions and witchcraft. Jesus preached against all of those who were wrapped up in that. Yes we must show love and get people to Jesus but that doesnt mean I will carry around the message of the beginning of a one world relgion bumper stick. NO THANK you. if your A CHRISTIAN READ THIS WITH A HEART OF FLESH NOT HARDENED. THE BIBLE SAYS THE DAYS ARE COMING WHERE WE WILL BE PERSECUTED AND THEY WONT WANT TO HEAR ABOUT JESUS. THIS STICKER IS TELLING US TO SHUT UP BECAUSE WE PUT YOUR SO CALLED BELIEF ON HERE SO DONT ” CONDEMN US FOR OUR BELIEFS”. IM SORRY I BEG TO DIFFER BECAUSE MY BIBLE SAYS TO PREACH THE TRUTH NO MATTER WHAT THE COST. PAUL DID IT. AND OTHER GREAT MEN OF THE BIBLE…ITS OUR TIME.. TOO.. CO EXSIST AND JESUS TOGETHER? NEVER.. JESUS IS THE LIGHT OF THE WOLD AND HE WILL NOT DWELL IN DARKNESS AND NIETHER WILL DARKNESS WILL WITH HIM.
Sorry bur coexist is bad juju. It is wrong. It is Satanic.
Christians believe and KNOW we are Right. There is only One Way to Heaven. To just sit back and coexist is not spreading the gospel – the Truth of God and his work on the Cross to same man from his sin.
Satan wants everyone to fall for the coexist stupidity. He knows all who do will go to hell with him.
He will take those people away from God forever.
The COEXIST bumper sticker is nonsense, and Christians should reject it. The thought behind this sticker is that everyone from different faiths need to “get along” and accept each other’s beliefs. I don’t have a problem getting along with others, but if you truly believe the teachings of your faith, then you cannot compromise them. This sticker is in essence saying to water down your beliefs. The bible says not to be luke warm. I’m fine with being friendly with people of other beliefs, as others have mentioned, to be a good representative of Christ. However, you cannot “accept” their beliefs, as they are wrong. It’s no different than saying we must accept homosexuals. Sure, we still love the person, but we do not accept their sin of homosexuality. Same thing if someone is having herterosexual relations outside of marriage. Love the person, but do not let the sin be considered acceptable. Not that we Christians as humans can do anything about the sin, but should remind others they need to repent to Christ. Of course, this also goes for ourselves and our own failed/flawed lives of sin. As for people of other faiths, we can get along, be friendly, but explain the salvation of Christ to them. Do not “COEXIST” with their beliefs.
I have one of those stickers but I haven’t yet put it on my car. I will now. I am not Christian, although I certainly have been there and done that. I am not a young woman, so I have had many deeply spiritual experiences. I am a witch and a legally certified Pagan Clergy-woman these days, I have met beautiful kind people of both philosophies.. We are all seeking peace, we are all doing our best to connect to The Divine. We should ALL be tolerant, respectful and coexist in goodwill, friendship and warmth. Bright Blessings.
Love the article!
I will tell ya something, though— in my experience, people who own coexist stickers, banners, shirts, whatever— really hate Christians. They believe in coexisting with everyone who thinks like they do, but they don’t care to truly understand others. It’s too much work for them, I think. I used to consider myself a liberal, but I don’t anymore for that very reason. I’m just a growing Christian who struggles with my faith every single day. That’s the only way I care to define myself anymore. 🙂
Thanks for the article.
KB
I agree 100% with Steveo.
To add to his comment, people with this sticker might as well have one that tells women to coexist with sexist men or blacks to coexist with racists. They believe totally different things about each other, but oh, why not just get along. Foolishness. Not possible because someone will always have to water down or altogether ditch their beliefs.
It is my understanding that the “coexist” bumper stickers, while sound sweet and nice, are actually demonstrations of normative pluralism: “All roads lead to God”. Read: Four Views on Salvation in a pluralistic World.
It is always an idiot Liberal that has these on their Car along with an Obama bumpersticker. It is best to avoid them in traffic.
It interesting to hear everybody take on the coexist . I agree We should be able to discuss religion without getting nasty with each other . It goes with any hot topic issue . I think it a good idea just like the interfaith movement but i do not think it will happen it seem like they want to promote the new tolerance which mean all faith are equal and we do not want you to convert me . The whole convert someone .You cant convert someone you lay out the truth and God converts . I will not force my faith on someone but will speak the truth in love . i am not going keep my faith to myself . Jesus is the Only way to God . Jesus will give you peace that you cant get from a bumper sticker I .I I do not care if think i am close minded I do not have to get behind a bumper sticker instead show it though actions . Seem like a lot of college age kids falling for the pluralism / coexist stuff .
Question: “Why can’t religions coexist peacefully?”
Answer: It has often been said that more wars have been fought in the name of religion than anything else. That may be true. That observation has often led to the question, “Why can’t religions coexist peacefully?” The short answer is because the various religions are competing with one another for the hearts and souls of men. The very nature of religious belief is exclusive, because each religion makes claims about truth that are at odds with the claims of other religions.
Every religion addresses these basic questions: Where did man come from, and why is he here? Is there life after death? Is there a God, and how can we know him? These questions help frame one’s worldview, the foundational philosophy of how one deals with life. When two people have different answers to these questions, there is bound to be conflict of some sort. This conflict can range from a friendly disagreement to a life-and-death battle, depending on the people involved. Since there are hundreds of different religions in the world, and millions of people framing their worldview, it is easy to see how things can escalate.
Typically, when the question “why can’t religions coexist” is asked, the focus is on the historic struggles among Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, although other religions are often included. Sometimes, a contrast is drawn between the pacifism of Eastern mysticism and the violence of traditional monotheism (Christianity, Judaism, Islam), though violence and extremism can also be found among the mystic religions. A brief look at history will confirm that every religion has its extremists and carries its share of blame for violence. An important question to ask is whether the bloodshed can be attributed to a religion’s essential teachings, or if it comes from a twisted application of those beliefs.
Christianity is often blamed for atrocities committed in the name of Jesus Christ. The Crusades (1096-1272), the Inquisition (1200-1800), and the French Wars of Religion (1562-98) are common examples. All these events were carried out under auspices of and with the approval of the Roman Catholic Church, yet they were clearly in violation of the teachings of Jesus Christ. In fact, both the Inquisition and the French Wars of Religion were attacks by Catholics against Christians who disagreed with the doctrine and practice of the Catholic Church. Writing of this history, Noah Webster said, “The ecclesiastical establishments of Europe which serve to support tyrannical governments are not the Christian religion but abuses and corruptions of it.”
When the teachings of Jesus and the apostles are examined, it is clear that Christians are expected to live lives characterized by peace. Romans 12:14 and 18 say, “Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. . . . If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.” Jesus said in Matthew 5:39, “Do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also.” Peter wrote, “Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing” (1 Peter 3:9).
Judaism is accused of stirring up violence, yet throughout history, the Jews have been on the receiving end of violence for more than two thousand years. In every country where they have lived, they have been maligned and persecuted, even though they lived peacefully and provided goods and services to others. Some will point to passages in the Old Testament in which the Jews were commanded to exterminate other nations and say this proves the violent undertones of Judaism. Interestingly, even though God commanded the Jews to wipe out the inhabitants of the Promised Land (Deuteronomy 7:1-5) in order to prevent His people from falling into idolatry, He also commanded them not to “mistreat or oppress a foreigner” (Exodus 22:21). And He extended an invitation to everyone, not just Jews, to believe in Him and be saved (Isaiah 45:22; Romans 10:12; 1 Timothy 2:4). God’s intention is to bless all people through the Jews (Genesis 12:3; Isaiah 49:6). Judaism teaches people “to act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8).
Islam has also been accused of violence, and in recent years many have tried to distinguish between Islamic extremism and the “religion of peace,” as Islam is sometimes called. There is no doubt that there are many peaceful followers of Islam, but it is also clear that the very foundation of Islam is rooted in violence. Muhammad (570-632), the founder and prophet of Islam, was raised in the city of Mecca and began preaching his revelations at the age of 40. When some tribes opposed him, he led his followers on a brutal campaign to defeat and convert them. Many revelations were given encouraging Muslims to kill those who did not believe (Surah 2:191; 4:74; 8:12), and that is the primary way Islam has spread throughout its history. When the United States was at war with the Barbary pirates, Secretary of State Timothy Pickering said, “Taught by revelation that war with the Christians will guarantee the salvation of their souls, and finding so great secular advantages in the observance of this religious duty, their inducements to desperate fighting are very powerful.” In contrast to Christian extremists who have clearly twisted Scripture to justify their violence, Muslim extremists can point to the clear teaching and practice of their founder to support their acts. It is the moderates in Islam who have to explain away verses condoning violence.
One word can sum up the reason why religions cannot coexist peacefully: sin. Because sin affects all men, the tendency to fight can rise up even in religious contexts. While different religions may have similar positive benefits to society, all religions are not equal. Only Christianity addresses the sin problem by changing the heart of man. “If anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” (2 Corinthians 5:17).
Read more: http://www.gotquestions.org/religions-coexist.html#ixzz2z3pAjNdT
Thank you for stating what I’ve been thinking ever since I noticed the term/bumper sticker. I am in agreement with you here! My mother felt the same way as most other Christians it sounds like (and I was in agreement with her because she is my mother and I was young), but I have a sneaking feeling that it’s because we don’t understand what it means, truly. When you look at the bumper sticker, you wonder how that could be possible, but if you think of it, it should be possible. Because understanding and respect are two of the most beautiful philosophies I can think of. And with my past experiences, that is the most natural and best way to bring someone to Christ. We’re supposed to be followers of Christ, are we not? Followers doesn’t mean disrespecting and yelling at others. In my opinion.
Thank you again for this article! Marvelous.
-J
Nice respond in return of this matter with solid
arguments and explaining everything on the topic of that.
I never understood how ppl think that Christ came to make us all get along. He says He did not come to bring peace, but a sword. He does tell us to love our neighbor and our enemy, but not to conform to the way of the world. His ways are not our ways, and His thoughts are not our thoughts. And Christianity was never meant to be a religion, but a personal relationship with Christ which is to the Jew first, and also to the gentile. It is sin that separates us from God, therefore we must seek Him. He says whoever calls upon my name shall be saved. And that no one comes to the Father except through Me (Jesus). He also said that Antichrist decievers come to separate us from the truth. But how could they do this if we know what we believe? Because most of us don’t know why we believe it. I’ve never seen a physical man sitting on a cloud, an angel, or heaven. I do however believe. I was a serious non believer once who tried to disprove all of this but when I gave Christ a chance, it opened a door for Him to come in and change my life completely. Which to me and every one who knew the old me is proof enough that change can happen. The ” carnal Christian ” of course are those who go to church every Sunday morning, get knowledge only, come home and are no different. They are open to changing God’s word to fit in with modern beliefs, or believe whatever ppl say is the “Christian” thing to do, even when it is by force which God says is not the right way.God gave us free will, even if we use it wrong. He said ” I set before you this day life and death, choose life.” The word choose means it is our choice. But the “carnal Christians ” follow wrong paths either because they are unable to see a difference in their life or because they refuse to change themselves. Maybe they never felt God’s presence, or they just want to be known as a ” Christian.” Nevertheless, the Bible is here for our open book test. Which we need to understand if you are a bible believing Christian or Jew, tells us how to live right. We are to believe that the Holy Spirit is our teacher, and the word is our spiritual food. We need to stop changing our diet, and start asking God to help change us into who He wants us to be. Pick a church that teaches the uncompromised word of God, and gives you a chance to learn, ask questions and grow. The word specifically says to be aware of false teachers who come in to ensnare us and “secretly” bring in destructive doctrine. That means they will try to use God’s word against us, as Satan did when trying to tempt Jesus. I can say he’s done it to me too. Just like they are trying to get us to be tolerant of homosexuals, transgender, and other religion in Christian and Jewish churches and synagogue. I can tell you that I’ve sinned quite a bit (even sexually, forgive me for being personal). I changed, but not against my own will. I was not brainwashed as most non believers might think. I just let the Holy spirit guide me.I did not try to seek out and remove sin, I just did what the word said, which is seek the kingdom of God, and my sin disappeared. It took time, and plenty of failed attempts to do it by myself, but when I humbled myself and asked God for help, He put me on the right path. A pastor once told me “when you fall, get back up.” Don’t let yourself fall into condemnation. I did not use the law as some of the Jews still believe. (No offense to the Jews, which are still God’s beloved ppl). All have sinned and fallen short of the glory. But you can change. If you don’t choose to that should not be held against us. I am not against you. I just believe that all sin must go. And not by works, but grace (which is often confused with a license to sin) will help you. Ask for God’s grace. And ask Him to help your unbelief. It works. P.S. God’s new covenant in no way leaves out the Jew or the gentile believers( or anyone who is non Jew but still believes.) In fact a lot of times in the bible it mentions to the Jew first and to the gentile for both blessing and cursing. His plan whether it is accepted by society or not is to make us one new man in Christ Jesus. When all is fulfilled with the gentiles, He will call back His beloved which is slowly happening now from what I’m seeing. All of what I say is my personal interpretation of what I’ve researched and what I believe God revealed to me to teach those still lost. If it offends you, forgive my offense, but I must follow commands from the Lord. Also forgive the long speech but it is hard to pack a lot into just one sentence. And to those who still don’t understand, My God is a loving God. He does not hate you, but He sent His Son to free us from the bondage that sin has on us. He is not taking away our sin to take our fun away. He is doing it because as it says in proverbs, ” He who the Lord chastises, He loves.” He wants us to be clean from our impurities that we may be one with Him. But we must yield ourselves to Him, fight off temptation, and choose God’s path instead. That is why we must stay in the word and do not get discouraged or condemned when we fail. He takes no pleasure in any mans death, but He told Israel, in Genesis that I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you. Pray for Jerusalem and all the Israel that worships the living God, that the lost find their messiah. God bless you all. Grace and peace be with you.Amen.
Doesn’t the bible say something along the lines of god being a jealous god, and take no other gods before him. What I take from that is, that if the Christian god is real, then all the other ones are, or are just as likely to be real. However if you are Christian and you want to hangout in Christian heaven only worship him. I could be mistaken it has been ages since I read the bible(I read it while I was in basic training out of boredom, though it was on my “to read list”.
As an Atheist, I respect all religions and those who follow said religions. I also find religion extremely interesting and beautiful. Religion is a major part of human history, and like humanity itself it does have it’s dark moments, still it is part of humanities history, it helped shape us into what we are today. I think of religion as the first steps towards science, because it was born out of the need for humanity to understand the world.universe around him. I believe religions are just myths and legends(My intention is not to offend, but to simply state my beliefs.), and we should hold on to them as such. In the lab, courtroom, government etc. etc. however, religion has no place in any of those areas anymore.
Anyway, I enjoyed reading this article, and to all my brothers and sisters(we are all human.) who are religious, may you find peace, love, and happiness in your life. . . Regardless of how you find it.(As long as it doesn’t involve hurting others, or forcing your religions rules onto those who are not followers of your faith.)