Darwin Fish
I'm not one to advertise my personal beliefs on my car. Because my beliefs are, well, personal. When I buy a new car I don't even let the dealer put his license plate holder or other indication of the car's origin. I'm not a driving advertisement for anyone.
I will confess that I do have a big "B" magnet, in orange and blue, on my vehicle though. "B" for "Bucknell." Heck, I'm paying the equivalent of the gross national product of a small country for my son to attend this prestigious institution of higher learning, for which they presented me with a "B" car magnet, so I might as well use it.
Today, however, I added a new ornament to the back of my behemoth mode of transport. It's a Darwin Fish. I've never seen one around here, although there is no shortage of Jesus fishes. I saw one on a car recently in Philadelphia and found it hilarious, a stinging rebuke to all those righteous Christian types who subscribe to theories that fly in the face of scientific fact. I refer, of course, to creationism.
The Darwin Fish looks just like the Jesus fish, only it faces right, where the traditional fish faces left. But the Darwin Fish has little legs and the word "Darwin" spelled out inside, where usually inside the little fishie is empty space. And apparently there is a rather long history behind the Darwin Fish design. According to Wikipedia (that bastion of useless and sometimes inaccurate information), the design was first used in 1984 on a freethought leaflet for Atheists United. Interesting.
The implication of this fish on my car is that I subscribe to the theory of evolution, not creationism. I wondered, however, as I affixed the thing to my tailgate, if casual observers will think I'm just a Christian who believes in evolution. I don't really think of myself as a Christian, although I am a huge fan Mary and also think Peace On Earth and Goodwill Toward Men is a pretty good philosophy.
My intention is not to insult anyone either. If I wanted to go around insulting people, I'd put a sticker on my car that says "get off your goddamn cellphone and talk to your children", or I'd yell out the window at all those slobs who throw lit cigarettes (or unlit ones) out the window or on the ground. I've never understood how smokers think that's not littering. But they don't think they're polluting the air either.... but that is a subject for another day.
My intention really is just to brighten someone's day, much as the Philadelphia driver did with mine, when I first saw the Darwin Fish. This, I said to myself, is a thinking person's decal.
I'll probably get tired of it after looking at it for a few weeks. Or if the neighbors start giving me the evil eye. Truth be told, some of them already do, but that is also a subject for another day.
I will confess that I do have a big "B" magnet, in orange and blue, on my vehicle though. "B" for "Bucknell." Heck, I'm paying the equivalent of the gross national product of a small country for my son to attend this prestigious institution of higher learning, for which they presented me with a "B" car magnet, so I might as well use it.
Today, however, I added a new ornament to the back of my behemoth mode of transport. It's a Darwin Fish. I've never seen one around here, although there is no shortage of Jesus fishes. I saw one on a car recently in Philadelphia and found it hilarious, a stinging rebuke to all those righteous Christian types who subscribe to theories that fly in the face of scientific fact. I refer, of course, to creationism.
The Darwin Fish looks just like the Jesus fish, only it faces right, where the traditional fish faces left. But the Darwin Fish has little legs and the word "Darwin" spelled out inside, where usually inside the little fishie is empty space. And apparently there is a rather long history behind the Darwin Fish design. According to Wikipedia (that bastion of useless and sometimes inaccurate information), the design was first used in 1984 on a freethought leaflet for Atheists United. Interesting.
The implication of this fish on my car is that I subscribe to the theory of evolution, not creationism. I wondered, however, as I affixed the thing to my tailgate, if casual observers will think I'm just a Christian who believes in evolution. I don't really think of myself as a Christian, although I am a huge fan Mary and also think Peace On Earth and Goodwill Toward Men is a pretty good philosophy.
My intention is not to insult anyone either. If I wanted to go around insulting people, I'd put a sticker on my car that says "get off your goddamn cellphone and talk to your children", or I'd yell out the window at all those slobs who throw lit cigarettes (or unlit ones) out the window or on the ground. I've never understood how smokers think that's not littering. But they don't think they're polluting the air either.... but that is a subject for another day.
My intention really is just to brighten someone's day, much as the Philadelphia driver did with mine, when I first saw the Darwin Fish. This, I said to myself, is a thinking person's decal.
I'll probably get tired of it after looking at it for a few weeks. Or if the neighbors start giving me the evil eye. Truth be told, some of them already do, but that is also a subject for another day.
posted by calabresewoman | 4:46 PM
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