Say 'no' to Cheap Monday

Not many news stories come out of Sweden. So when I actually saw one prominently displayed in the business section of my local newspaper, I was interested to see what the Swedes were up to. Here's the disheartening news: The Swedes are up to no good.\nApparently, a new line of anti-Christian jeans are selling like hotcakes. Their logo, which features an upside down cross on a skull's forehead, is an intentional statement against Christianity. Logo designer Bjorn Atldax told The Associated Press that the design is supposed to make young people question the religion, which he believes has been a force of evil throughout history.\nWhy should we care? The Cheap Monday brand is starting to go global, and the company eventually plans to sell the jeans in the United States.\nI hope I am not the only young American who sees something dreadfully wrong with this. To be clear, it is not offensive that some are against organized religion or Christianity. Nor is it offensive that these people speak their minds. It is the double standard that's offensive. If these jeans held an anti-Jewish or anti-Muslim message, the media would be all over it in a negative way. And the American Civil Liberties Union wouldn't be able to wait until the jeans appeared on American shelves before it pounced on a lawsuit.\nQuestioning religion is something we all do at some point in our lives, and that's OK. It's also OK not to believe in organized religion. But promoting and spreading an anti-Christian, hateful message just for the sake of it is not. It's disrespectful to the 2.1 billion who practice it, and more people should be in an uproar.\nDoesn't this story sound familiar to anyone else? Designing and wearing a logo against a religion that someone believes has been a "force of evil" throughout history? Hitler, anyone?\nMaybe the jeans will be popular in Sweden, where the percentage of churchgoers is only single digits, or France, which seems to be \nanti-every religion. But not in our country. Americans are better than this on so many levels. \nIf Americans want to promote a political message, they certainly don't slap it on a pair of jeans. They do something effective, whether it's protesting on the Washington Mall or writing a letter to the editor. Americans should realize wearing a pair of these jeans is just a cheap way of saying, "Hey, I hate Christianity. But I won't debate you, because I'm too ignorant." \nIf Cheap Monday jeans do reach the United States, I think we all know what type of person would buy them: a young, college-aged "activist" who thinks it's trendy to don clothes that have an anti-culture message. Damn the man, right? No, damn you. Not respecting other people's beliefs, especially religious beliefs, is unacceptable in this country. Americans are better than that.\nYes, Cheap Monday has a right to sell these jeans anywhere they wish. Yes, anyone should be able to buy them. It's un-American to be anti-freedom of speech. But it's even more un-American to disrespect the rest of the First Amendment. You know, that part where it says, "or prohibiting the free exercise thereof"?