Consumerist reader Mike has a Capital One credit card. He’d hoped to get one of the bank’s customizable “Image Cards” printed with a big red “A” for atheism. His initial upload was rejected by Capital One, which sent him a long list of possible reasons. And when he called to appeal, things just more bizarre.
The first person Mike spoke with said they had no idea why it was rejected and submitted his appeal.
Then the image was rejected a second time.
“I spoke to someone after the second rejection that someone there said that there was a note in my file regarding the fact that they do not allow religious or anti-religious images,” Mike tells Consumerist.
And yes, far down that list of possible reasons for rejecting a card, CapOne does list “Controversial subject matter such as political or religious statements and/or images.”
But why, Mike asks, does the card-making interface on Capital One’s own website have 34 photos in a category it labels “Spiritual” and which includes several options to put Christian and Jewish imagery on your card?
There are also categories like “Patriotic” and “Holidays” that likely contain images one could deem as political or religious.
“When I asked about the Spiritual section, the man responded that he didn’t have access to the gallery so he couldn’t comment on it,” Mike tells Consumerist. “He also mentioned that the rules are handed down to them from VISA and Mastercard and that this latest appeal was final.”
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No one expects the Spanish Inquisition. Unless they present the Red Lettered “A” Capital One credit card at the time of purchase. Bring me…the COMFY CHAIR!
And for some reason I see the A for Anarchy letter A when I imagine how this card would look. Which seems kind of cool to me (and I’m not an anarchist nor an atheist).
Try getting the flying spagetti monster on there?
This guy needs a nice xBox or something to fill his time with.
Wouldn’t putting nothing on the check be an atheist symbol??
Because I’m sure Jesus would totally approve of his image on a credit card….
Where was Consumerist’s outrage when the New York Times accepted a recent anti-Christian advertisement but rejected one promoting anti-Islam?
Selective Imagery, indeed.
Atheists need to get lives and stop stirring up controversy just for the sake of controversy.
Well, since nicoleintrovert linked to the American Atheists Capital One Card on her post I guess we can say this story is basically BS?
I don’t really get the “Atheist Pride” thing. I can think of tons of stuff I don’t believe in but I don’t label myself according to that non-belief.
Proud Leprechaun denying American?
And I don’t say this out of ignorance, my husband is an Atheist and I love him dearly. He just doesn’t slap a “pride” label on himself about it because again, it’s the absence of something in his life, not the presence or belief in something.
While Cap1 should allow the ahteist symbol if they’re going to allow a picture of Jesus I must say that I’m glad to see what Cap1 did. Christianity is typically mocked, it’s believers ridiculed and are often treated as second class citizens.
It’s about time Atheism took one up the butt for a change.
On the contrary, it’s usually theists who ridicule, marginalize and discriminate against atheists. Almost the entire Republican party’s positions on just about anything are based on religious views or religious based morality.
It probably just looks like atheists win simply because their arguments tend to make more sense more often. Most of the time, however, good, fact-based reasonableness is bowled over by the hordes of fairy tale-believing masses who’d rather live in the 7th century than come into the real world.
I find it funny that Athiests almost follow a similar “religious” zeal to get their own way. However, I do not see any reason here why a card holder should be blocked from putting whatever they want on their card within reason. Heck, how does CapOne not know the A was to be a stand-in for the Angel’s baseball logo…
No, we’re just tired of having laws, culture and morality dictated to us by idiots who believe in fairy tales.
If you met a guy who proposed to change all the laws in your state but then found out he believed in dragons and elves and aliens would you take seriously anything he said or believed?
No matter the religion (or lack there-of) the biggest message is what folks?
Tolerance!
That is also what America was founded on! Freedom of Religion (or lack there-of) and the companies operating here should be open to that.
Recently I’ve seen a deep schism between Christians and Atheists/Agnostics (and yes I do mean both)
If we keep going in this direction there will be a religious war and we will be just as useless as the Middle East (sorry if this offensive to anyone, but honestly with the exception of the oil…M.E.=ewww)
I don’t believe in things that haven’t been proven to exist. I don’t believe in invisible bearded men in the sky. I don’t believe in talking snakes, burning bushes, men living inside giant fishes, zombies, five-headed apocalyptic monsters, tooth fairies, elves, hobbits, dragons, dogs and cats living together, or eternal endless pits of fire seven times hotter than normal fire.
In short, I don’t believe in fantasy. I am rational. I believe in science and physics and that there is a perfectly rational explanation for things we simply don’t understand yet. Therefore, my tendency to be level-headed, reasonable and skeptical of people who do makes me a more mature, civilized and adjusted person than them.
I simply can’t take anything a religious person says or does seriously. They’ve zero credibility to me no matter how many idiot laws they enact or people they behead or “witches” they burn or how many people they dupe into writing them checks.
/r
Is the red “A” merely a symbol to tell everyone that you don’t believe in god or is a symbol to ridicule others who believe in god or a combination of the two?
I think the main purpose of the red “A” is to ridicule others who do believe in god. I think most Capital One customers believe in god, so Capital One doesn’t want to allow their product to be used to alienate a majority of their customers.
Believing in fairy tales is cool for five year olds. Probably ridicule-worthy for anyone older than that.