A hot seller in Sweden are jeans from Cheap Monday, a company whose logo is a smiling skull with an upsidedown cross on it. This isn't just for shock value: the designer is quite open about it being an anti-Christian statement. It's not a Satanist symbol, but a protest against Christianity which, he hopes, will get people to question traditional religious doctrines.

MSNBC reports:

The jeans’ makers say it’s more of a joke, but the logo’s designer said there is a deeper message. “It is an active statement against Christianity,” Bjorn Atldax told The Associated Press. “I’m not a Satanist myself, but I have a great dislike for organized religion.”

Atldax insists he has a purpose beyond selling denim: to make young people question Christianity, which he called a “force of evil” that had sparked wars throughout history.

What do religious leaders say?

“I don’t think it’s much to be horrified about,” said Bo Larsson, director of the church’s Department of Education, Research and Culture. “It is abundantly clear that this designer wants to create public opinion against the Christian faith. ... But I believe that the way to deal with this is to start a discussion about what religion means.”

“One cannot just keep quiet about this,” said the Rev. Karl-Erik Nylund, vicar of St. Mary Magdalene Church in Stockholm. “This is a deliberate provocation (against Christians), and I object to that.”

So, some people see this as a reason to begin a discussion about religion while others... well, what does Nylund want? Larsson isn’t advocating “keeping quiet” (it wouldn’t be much of a discussion if he did). Would Nylund like to see the jeans banned? I’m not sure that his protest against them makes much sense if he simply disagrees with the message.

 

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