I don’t know how to package this except to come out and say it:
At least Moroni isn’t taking hits from a bong. You know, they say coffee is a gateway drug.
You know, Joseph Smith isn’t here any longer for me to give him advice, but if he were still alive I’d point out that if you wanted to make up a new religion up out of whole cloth and you didn’t want anybody to make jokes out of it, you might not want to name your major new angel “Moroni.” Just a helpful hint there.
You know, Jim, this practically begs for us to make an image of the prophet Moroni drinking coffee. CafePress banned images of Mohammed. Will they ban images of Moroni too?
What if I belong to a religion which believes that it is sacrilege for images of Rudolph Giuliani to be printed? Will CafePress ban images of Giuliani too?
but it’s such an ugly shirt.
And what does LDS think about using other people’s logos in their own designs? Check out Brigham Young Univ website for answers about why they think it is okay to use the Nike swoosh logo incorporated into the angel Moroni for Mormon shirts:
http://theboard.byu.edu/index.php?area=viewall&id=14441
short answer: it’s okay becasue it’s a parody.
Oh, but maybe we could make a more attractive shirt, and yes, you’re right – a parody is permitted by law.
I would NEVER make a t-shirt of the Angel Moroni drinking a coffee. Coffee? Coffee? Moroni would never drink coffee! Please. The Angel Moroni prefers Lattes!
Just because it’s legal doesn’t mean they can’t sue. Scientology is notorious for suing anyone who says anything about their very bizarre religion. When a little guy gets threats from lawyers from a deep-pockets outfit like the Mormon church in Utah, the question is not whether they are doing something illegal but whether they have the resources go against the big money lawyers of the religion trying to bully them.
Mormons don’t seem to be particularly offended by the shirt. Missionaries come into the coffeeshop and laugh, and they have Mormon regulars who also think the shirt is funny. It seems to be more of a money issue of controlling the angel for commercial purposes.
Wikipedia has published a Moroni grave symbol–some religious grave symbols are not pictured online as they are copyrighted, so this one must not be copyrighted? LDS claims a registered trademark but bloggers doing a search for it have not found it yet.
I much prefer the angel Gabriel who appeared to Mohammed–the Moslems brew excellent coffee. But only Jesus could change water into wine.
Just Add Coffee has new shirts with image of Moroni gone and a caption that reads “The Lord Giveth and a Church Taketh Away”. Give them a call at 801-969-2300.
I always knew coffee was divine, the way my mother drinks it down every morn upon the table.