Friday, November 19, 2004

Ambiguity

I saw a sticker slapped on a newsstand this morning. It read:
GODISNOWHERE
At first I assumed the message was an atheist one:
GOD IS NOWHERE
But then I realized the message could have been spiritual in intent:
GOD IS NOW HERE
A Google search turned up an evangelical website, and apparently the ambiguity was intentional. Clever… but I wonder if it’s really effective. And hey, is vandalism a Christian virtue?

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Funny. I also read it as God is nowhere.
How is that vandalism though? I assume you're referring to the newest post about the unsolicited flyers on your windshield.
I thought it was not legal to give out unsolicited ads or mail. But i hardly think that's vandalism, unless they put a dent or crack in your windshield.
I did catch myself a few times throwing things down on the ground, but if it's anything remotely interesting i take it into my car and end up throwing it out later anyway.

I'm going to that event tonight by the way (billy graham). I've thought it'd be interesting to see him, since he's probably the only respectable public minister that didn't get caught in some crazy sex, money, power scandal. I had to give him credit for that.

sk

Glen Whitman said...

Actually, I was referring to the vandalism of slapping a sticker on someone else's newsstand. The sticker obscures the headlines on the papers inside, and I'm sure it will be nearly impossible to remove without scratching up the plexiglass.

Anonymous said...

Ha! you're funny (plexi-glass might get scratched).
But doesn't vandalism mean willful and malicious in intent? I don't think the evangelists were thinking pre-meditated violence on public property.

And about whether the strategy is really effective. Those few that were pondering the topic of an infinite being and were really curious might go and check out that site and possibly make it a life-long search for 'truth'. Maybe that's all they're shooting for.

sk