Religious bumper stickers, more specifically one’s referring to Catholicism and Christianity, are hard to miss. Whether it’s because of symbols such as the cross or the Ichthys (the fish symbol) or specific words such as Jesus and God or specific references to the afterlife. After 13 years of Catholic education, I can say I’ve seen a fair number of religious bumper stickers and have a good idea of the people with these on their cars.

Bumper stickers have become a abundant form of self-expression on our roads over the years. From just the Ichthys or similar symbols to spreading political opinions through humorous jests, creating a canvas for the driver to express their views. Personally I don’t mind if someone has stickers like these ones on their car, but I can’t help but laugh when I see them.

Growing up I remember my mom driving me to school and I’d see the Ichthys on the back of cars, most commonly during the Easter season, and I never really questioned much about it. I just remembered it had been mentioned in religion classes. Then I reached high school and started to notice stickers such as the one’s pictured above.

Which lead me to question the reality behind those with stickers such as these ones specifically. They are typically some of the most ill-mannered people in our society, who contrary to their beliefs don’t practice what they preach. People such as the Willard Preacher or the small flocks of protestors we get on campus or down town, with signs that creatively shame university students, I’d be willing to bet they have similar bumper stickers.

Looking at some of the posters above such as the “Wild Girls Burn In Hell” leads me to specifically address the “This Fish Won’t Fry! Will You?” which makes a direct reference to a person’s place in the afterlife, based on how they lived their life. Essentially the sticker is saying the fish is going to heaven because it’s lived a life without sin and has done no wrong, and if it has then it repented for the sins it committed, so you should do the same. Which is interesting given the acts some of these religious “activists” have committed in the past to heal those who sinned or are actively sinning and need to ask christ to be saved.

People with stickers like this place these on their cars in order to promote their superior religious ideology, with messages that are similar to the stickers that promote political ideology. “Support my party of choice or you’re screwing the country over!” or “Vote for the opposing party and you’re a terrible person!”.

This of course is not the case with all religious bumper stickers, not every sticker supports religious or ideological superiority some just have it to identify themselves with others around them. And not all people who have stickers like these are terrible, it’s just a generalization of people I’ve seen or interacted with. However, all stickers can open both positive and negative conversations on subjects such as this.