Wackadoo Ultra-Orthodox Car

[Briefly]

I have had Texas Longhorn stickers on my car or other Texas related stickers as long as we've lived in Oklahoma. Not a lot, usually just one at at a time and certainly nothing offensive to Oklahomans. I have been pulled over for obviously made up reasons by the Tulsa police, my husband had a state trooper chase him down on the turnpike and try to say that our turnpike pass was showing as stolen - which was also an obvious lie.  I've been tailgated, flipped off and had a coke poured on my car.  One time, it was scratched but I think that was an accidental scratch - caused by the lady I caught trying to pry my Longhorn sticker off of my car.  The car I drive now does not have any because I never got around to it, but I do have a crochet-related window decal I will eventually get on the rear window. Maybe.

[FloraKitty35]

I personally don't do bumper stickers even though there are some that I like such as: "Jesus Loves You, But Everyone Else Thinks You're An Asshole", "The Last Time Religion and Politics Mixed People Were Burned at the Stake", "Voldemort 2020".

[zee_four]

On 4/11/2018 at 8:25 AM, Alisamer said:

Wow. 

I'm honestly a little glad when people do stuff like this. I'm like, YES. Please. Advertise your crazy so the rest of us know up front. 

Also, how is 4" below the knee the law for skirt length? I'm pretty sure they weren't using inches to measure things in the Bible. 

Its all what different rabbis say. Theyre like the Jewish Bill Gothards. I was in a Jewish sorority in college and the main group of girls were super into Chabad (hassidic Jewish "missionaries") instead of Hillel (reform modern college Jewish group). They started dressing tzniut (Jewish modesty) and strictly observing shabbos... Yeah.

[PennySycamore]

@dramallama,  I've got several stickers on my car: one Obama/Biden, one Clinton/Kaine, several for state candidates, an "I sit with John Lewis" and one "Resist Hate" and one with that just says "RESIST".   Once my car gets a bath, I've got a "Neverthreless, she persisted"  (with a drawing of the Statue of Liberty on it) magnet that Im going to put on. i've never been keyed  and have rarely had a negative reaction that I'm aware of except for that asshole that yelled at me on the anniversary of MLK's assassination.  I live in SC, btw.

[artdecades]

This is so weird to see this ridic stuff from ultra orthodox. Granted, I don't interact with them like ever (though I do work with a lot of lovely Orthodox people), but I always associate this thinking with xtian fundies. There's a little cognitive dissonance for me.

[Cleopatra7]

5 hours ago, SusanAtTheLastBattle said:

This whole thing is weird to me because usually ultra Orthodox fundies are not interested in communicating with randos outside their community who might read a sticker on their car. And communications internal to these communities are usually in Yiddish.

Anybody ever seen a Yiddish bumper sticker?

I was wondering about that too, especially since many haredi Jews speak English as a second language with Yiddish as their primary language. This is particularly true for men and boys, since they tend to spend the bulk of their time studying Torah and Talmud, whereas many women have to semi-decent English to work to support said males in their studies. Hence, men who wish to leave the Haredi lifestyle often have to learn English as if they were recent immigrants, rather than third or fourth generation Americans. I was wondering if this car belongs to a Messianic Jewish person, since only then would it make sense to have a bunch of self-righteous and judgement bumper stickers in English. But if that were the case, one would expect there to also be stickers about how Yeshua is Lord and all that kind of thing. Chabad does do outreach in English but it’s only to fellow Jews and they try to start out with emphasizing the joys of incorporating traditional practices into daily life rather than chewing people out for not being frum (Chabad emissaries may think this privately, but they aren’t going to say it out loud to potential recruits). Like @SusanAtTheLastBattle said, Haredi Jews in the US tend to have zero interest in what goes on outside of their communities and use Yiddish as a primary language, so it’s a mystery as to what kind of person this car belongs to.

[EmmieJ]

I have a round decal on my trunk that says I'm a proud parent of a Marine.  Other than that, my car is sticker free.

[Dandruff]

I'm wondering where the specifically Jewish bumper stickers came from.  I can't imagine there'd be much of a market for that sort of thing.  And why would a frum woman, who I'd expect to be hauling around a bunch of kids, be willing to invite aggression from other drivers?  Unless it's a frum guy who has major issues with Jewish women...?

I don't get it.

[nastyhobbitses]

6 minutes ago, Dandruff said:

I'm wondering where the specifically Jewish bumper stickers came from.  I can't imagine there'd be much of a market for that sort of thing.  And why would a frum woman, who I'd expect to be hauling around a bunch of kids, be willing to invite aggression from other drivers?  Unless it's a frum guy who has major issues with Jewish women...?

I don't get it.

Considering how many fellow Jews have told me to steer clear of certain Brooklyn neighborhoods unless I'm dressed very modestly because sometimes the Haredi dudes scream at women who aren't dressed to their standards of modesty, and considering the sexual abuse cases within the community where witnesses and victims were harassed, intimidated, publicly shamed, and shunned for coming forward, this isn't too farfetched. 

[anjulibai]

Modern Orthodox? But then again, they seem more live and let live about this stuff, relatively speaking. I've never met a Modern Orthodox person who would have something like this. 

[AmazonGrace]

How many years has the person had the "universe is 5773 years old" sticker?

I thought it is now the year 5778.

Next to that sticker, "I can't afford a new car. Or new stickers."

[zee_four]

11 hours ago, PennySycamore said:

@dramallama,  I've got several stickers on my car: one Obama/Biden, one Clinton/Kaine, several for state candidates, an "I sit with John Lewis" and one "Resist Hate" and one with that just says "RESIST".   Once my car gets a bath, I've got a "Neverthreless, she persisted"  (with a drawing of the Statue of Liberty on it) magnet that Im going to put on. i've never been keyed  and have rarely had a negative reaction that I'm aware of except for that asshole that yelled at me on the anniversary of MLK's assassination.  I live in SC, btw.

I have a Trump Skis in Jeans sticker :-p

[Eponine]

16 hours ago, SusanAtTheLastBattle said:

Anybody ever seen a Yiddish bumper sticker?

I don't know enough to distinguish between Yiddish and Hebrew in writing but I've seen ones that I think are probably Yiddish (possibly Hebrew) around the area of Kiryas Joel. Last time I was driving near the area I saw a few large billboards in Yiddish (again, possibly Hebrew?) and English admonishing people to observe the Sabboth and read the Torah!

And in regards to Haredi Jews having no interest in what happens outside their communities so why would they have these kinds of things: I assume the person who owns this car lives in an area with a large Haredi population and these messages are meant for them. I live pretty close to some of the ultra-Orthodox areas of Brooklyn and have seen flyers, stickers, and yes sometimes bumper stickers that have less in-your-face but messaging with similar ideas. Those are the ones in English - it's possible that the ones in Yiddish/Hebrew are just as crazy as these!

But I have to imagine that there is way less of that sort of thing than there would be if I lived in a very Christian fundie area.

[Alisamer]

I don't currently have any stickers on my car, but when I get around to washing it (no use now... pollen everywhere!) I've got a Decepticon insignia for it. It'll be like Cybertron's most downtrodden pathetic Decepticon, but still. I used to have Mike and the bots from MST3K in one corner, that was fun. I like fandom and hobby related stickers, because every time I pass a car with one I recognize it makes me smile. (I often see Bumblebee - the special edition Camaro they released when the first Michael Bay Transformer movie came out - when I'm driving to work. Also, someone near me drives the Ecto-1 from Ghostbusters!)

I also try to avoid anything political or potentially controversial. My car's in bad enough shape that being keyed isn't going to bother it much, but I park out front of work so all my co-workers (and boss, including the owner's wife who watches faux news 24/7) and all our customers see it. Work is stressful enough without inviting political discussion. 

[SusanAtTheLastBattle]

My mom, who hates bumper stickers, let her anger during the W. administration carry her far enough to get one that said “Think. It’s patriotic.”

Might be time to get another one of those.

[GeoBQn]

9 hours ago, Dandruff said:

I'm wondering where the specifically Jewish bumper stickers came from.  I can't imagine there'd be much of a market for that sort of thing.  And why would a frum woman, who I'd expect to be hauling around a bunch of kids, be willing to invite aggression from other drivers?  Unless it's a frum guy who has major issues with Jewish women...?

I don't get it.

One of my modern Orthodox friends was the one that shared this on Facebook.  People commenting thought that the stickers looked like they were printed from home.

[Dandruff]

5 hours ago, anjulibai said:

Modern Orthodox? But then again, they seem more live and let live about this stuff, relatively speaking. I've never met a Modern Orthodox person who would have something like this. 

Maybe the stickers are geared toward the Modern Orthodox...since they're written in English?  I also know some Modern Orthodox and they would never display that kind of stuff.

I was in NY last year and managed to get lost in a frum neighborhood just over a bridge from Manhattan.  The weather was chilly, so I was pretty well covered up.  Also, I'm older with grey hair, and don't look particularly Jewish or non-Jewish (I'm Jewish).  I knew not to ask the men for directions, so I started asking the women.  They stared at me like I was a Martian and either completely ignored me or said they didn't know and then ignored me.  Nobody made a comment about my appearance, or got in my face, but the body language seemed clear that I didn't belong.  I finally found a woman who was dressed more like me and she was very helpful. 

[artdecades]

I can't see a Modern Orthodox person sporting these at all. Or them being geared towards someone like that. Modern Orthodox men are fine interacting with non related women. 

 

I did google one of the bumper stickers. It says TNT Torah Novel Thoughts and I thought it was maybe a brand. I found this book https://www.amazon.com/TNT-Torah-Novel-Thoughts/dp/B00Q3HBHCY. Based on the description from this site (https://www.eichlers.com/tnt-torah-novel-thoughts-hardcover.html) and Amazon, it seem to be Lubavitcher. The rabbis are all listed as "reb" and "rebbe" which is a hasidic thing usually.

[anjulibai]

Quote

What merit may have saved Donald Trump from dying in the 1989 fatal helicopter crash that killed three of his business executives.

The hell? 

[WhatWouldJohnCrichtonDo?]

My transgender sibling is pretty introverted and non-confrontational in person, but he likes to sport his beliefs passively. (Buttons, bumper stickers.) His car has had 4 or 5 bumper stickers for the last few years: "Refugees Welcome", a rainbow square, an equals sign (marriage equality), and a few others I can't remember. He hasn't had his car keyed, but once someone removed his side mirror. Another time, someone scratched up just one bumper sticker. And just last week, his tires would have gotten shredded if he hadn't noticed the utility blades (like razor blades, but sturdier) laid out on his driveway for him to drive over. 

I don't want to tell him to quiet down, because he stayed quiet and miserable for over 50 years, trying to fit society's idea of how a person assigned female at birth should act. I don't want him to be quiet. But, I love him and I worry about him. I'm sure the owner of this car would see him as an abomination. I'm glad his church family loves him and doesn't think that way. (Our family-family, too.)

[mango_fandango]

I remember my uncle had an Obama 08 sticker. And he’s in the U.K. so he couldn’t vote or anything  

Car stickers aren’t really a thing here. You get the ones saying “baby on board” “princess on board” () etc on the back window, but that’s all. 

[WhatWouldJohnCrichtonDo?]

1 minute ago, mango_fandango said:

I remember my uncle had an Obama 08 sticker. And we’re in the U.K. so we couldn’t vote or anything  

I found this one online before the 2016 election. 

I loved this one, too!

Spoiler

I go minimalist on my car. (Unlike my hoarder tendencies in the rest of my life.) I have a AAA sticker, a radio station sticker, and an outline of my state with a heart where my city is. Simple and boring.

[Terrie]

I want to get a lutefisk fish decal for my car. 

[dramallama]

I've added an "I <3 Science" sticker since this photo was taken.  

[FeministShrew]

@PennySycamore I'll be looking for your car now, lol!

I don't have any political stickers, but I  have a Starfleet sticker (yes, I'm a member), a T-Rex eating a stick family, two skulls, a "live long & prosper" hand, a very faded Fluttershy, and the Black Knight/ "Tis but a scratch" sticker beside the first scratch my poor truck ever had. (Said truck has since been broadsided by a deer, lol). 
My fangeek cred is completed by a skeletal arm on my driver's door (ala Furiosa's War Rig in Mad Max: Fury Road) and a life-size  Vader sunshade sticker on the back passenger window. (It's scared drive-thru employees a few times, & a cop at a license check made a joke about it once). 
I'm getting ready to buy a new(er), smaller vehicle, & my truck & its stickers will pass to my son. I probably won't have any stickers on my next car. I want to try being anonymous for awhile, lol.