Intriguing Article
Earlier this week my wife sent me a link to Tania Lombrozo’s recent NPR article: “Atheist Shoemaker Loses Faith in U.S. Postal System.” The article explores a study by the maker of Atheist Shoes considering what appears to be unfair treatment of their shipments by the USPS.
Troublesome Experiences
Atheist Shoes is a “cadre of shoemakers & artists in Berlin, Germany who hand-make ridiculously comfortable, Bauhaus-inspired shoes for people who don’t believe in god.” The company noted that the shipping experience to US customers was not commensurate with their expectations. To better understand what appeared to be unfair treatment of their packages, the company carried out an experiment. Atheist Shoes shipped two pairs of shoes (one pair was packaged using the company’s packing tape featuring the word “Atheist” and the other pair was packaged without the use of the tape) to each of 89 people located in 49 different states in the US. Among the troubling findings, Atheist Shoes found that
- packages featuring the Atheist tape took an average of 3 days longer to arrive than those without the tape, and
- nine packages featuring the Atheist tape went missing whereas only one without the tape went missing.
So What?
Atheist Shoes posted an update indicating that “a Professor from a leading US University has offered to assist us in the write up of this research, along with the implementation and funding of further research, for which we are very grateful.” Additionally, they have noted no formal reply from the USPS (an entity that claims to deliver packages in a fair and non-discriminatory manner) regarding their concerns. While improved methodology and future research is warranted, the initial experience deserves real discussion.
- Do you believe that people are often treated differently based on their religion (or lack of religion) in normal every day real world life experiences in the US?
- If additional research shows that packages labeled with a specific religion or with atheism are delivered more slowly than those without religious markings, what do you believe should be done to rectify this injustice?
- How does your congregation actively labor on behalf of fair treatment of all without regard to religion?