Re: virus: our domain name...
Josh Aaron Bradley (jab13@cornell.edu)
Wed, 17 Jun 1998 02:03:48 -0400
When I object to the domain name lucifer.com I do not mean to disparage CoS=
or the figurative value of the character lucifer. I also do not mean to=
denigrate any of our ideaologies or suggest any changes in them. What I do=
mean to convey is that one day I would like groups like CoV to affect a=
wider range of individuals, not by mutating to fit the tastes of the public=
but by working to make peoples' beliefs like those of our own. Because of=
the future I see for CoV, and because of our essentially humanist, skeptic,=
agnostic, and atheist philosophies, I see no reason why we should be using=
a stigmatized, mythical being of Christian lore as one of our symbols. I=
recognize that in the circles of CoV the being lucifer connotes images and=
ideas very different from those of the mass populace; however, included in=
this mass of people who misunderstand the "real" connotation of lucifer are=
the 10% or more of the population (I'm probably being overly generous) who=
would otherwise be immediately attracted to us if it were not for our=
puzzling domain name. This brings up another thing in my mind. What's up=
with the www.lucifer.com main page? Assuming I tell a rational, secular=
friend of mine, assuming I have at least one, about our organization, and=
after getting over the understandable surprise of learning of a society of=
atheists, humanists, etc. which somehow recognizes with lucifer, he decides=
to go to the main lucifer page and finds the word lucifer and a couple=
torches. So he clicks on lucifer and is then taken to a page which provides=
an explanation of our domain name called "In Praise of the Devil" written=
by Max Moore. The first thing is that there do not seem to be any links. Is=
it just me or are we trying to play some kind of game with visitors to the=
site? Is it a screening process by which we determine that anyone not=
intuitive or curious enough to eventually locate our exact url is unworthy?=
The second thing is that whenever something must be explained it often=
loses its effectiveness. Therefore, rather than going to the homepage and=
learning about memes and Darwin and all kinds of nifty things, they are at=
the main page trying to figure out what lucifer and the devil have to do=
with virus. Hope I'm making sense. Good night all.
-Josh
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