The Secular Web is 6 years old’ “WAIT A MINNIT!” you’re saying. “Six years ago the world wide web was barely starting. Lots of people didn’t even have direct access to the ‘net, and even then many of them didn’t know HTML from a home run.”
True, but even then the Internet Infidels, those visionary pioneers and overworked volunteers, had started their work of creating an online library to serve freethinkers around the globe. I can say that part about “visionary” because I hadn’t even been asked to be a supporter yet; I was one of the tired, poor HTML-less masses.
Today, the dream has grown and it’s ongoing. The original Library (still growing) has been augmented by original articles and papers published exclusively by the secular web’ a news service ‘ discussion forums, books and book reviews and ‘ well, click those links yourself and you’ll be surprised. The Secular Web is still the creature of overworked volunteers, but there are more of us, and we have the support of wonderful readers who help out with encouraging email, their own contributions to the Agora, and even donations.
Friends, the Secular Web is practically an’ no, I refuse to say “an institution.” We’re much too lively for that. But definitely a FAMILY. It’s time to celebrate six years of survival, and what could be a better way than a symbol every member of the II family can be proud to wear. Yup! You’ve got it, it’s the first
OFFICIAL INTERNET INFIDELS T-SHIRT
We’re so excited about this, we haven’t even received the first shipment, and we’re telling you anyway! We do have the design though, and it’s gorgeous. See the graphic above.
This design and slogan was selected by the Internet Infidels Board of Directors from
a series of exclusive designs by Dave Feroe, creator of Hereticards ‘ and graphic artist to the freethought community. The elegant design (see picture above) will be printed on the BACK of quality black tees in 100% cotton, available in various sizes from M to XXXL.
What do we mean by “quality”? Hanes Beefy-T ‘ is made of Hanes’ famous 6.1 oz. fabric made with luxuriously soft 100% cotton ring-spun yarn, with a fit consumers love, preshrunk to minimize shrinkage. It is manufactured with a double-needle cover seamed neck and shoulder-to-shoulder tape, and double-needle sleeve and bottom hems. Very top-notch.
Check the Secular Web home page often, so you’ll know the minute the shirt is available, because there’s a a 10% discount for the early birds. For an even deeper, STARVING STUDENTS discount of 20%, come to the Secular Students Alliance “Godless Grassroots” conference August 9-14, and say hello at the Internet Infidels table.
The slogan “Culture jamming theistic memes since 1995” ‘ is thanks to the genius of our wild and woolly ex-pres., James Still. Many people ask what “culture jamming theistic memes” refers to, and this is just it:
Through the Secular Web, the Internet Infidels have defied the cultural assumptions of a predominately Judeo-Christian world and dared to say that the emperor has no clothes. Indeed, we are not just saying it, but making a thorough case for it and publishing it for all the world to see, where it is impossible to ignore. A “culture jammer” is someone who challenges cultural assumptions and opens people’s eyes to an underlying truth that, through habit or denial, people have ignored or never noticed before–like spray painting “feed me” on a billboard with a naked model so skinny she’s two pounds from dead. Memes, on the other hand, are the units, the genes of culture: the claims and beliefs and stories that together comprise a society’s variegated ideology. These memes, through telling and retelling, through emulation and reinvention, pass from person to person like a virus. Though “being true” is often a strong trait that will keep a meme alive, memes all too often spread and stick around with a ferocious tenacity even when obviously false, like belief in Bigfoot, or faith in the inevitable victory of the Marxist state. Theistic memes are the beliefs that comprise “theism,” or belief in God, in all its varieties. We culture jamming infidels believe these memes are of the Bigfoot variety. So we write “feed me” on the electric billboard of the Internet. ‘ 2001 by Richard Carrier