[donaldscrankshaw] Donald: The Darwin Ichthus

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Posted by Donald:
The Darwin Ichthus
http://www.donaldscrankshaw.com/posts/1208128631.shtml


   Jonah Goldberg has an [1]interesting story about the "Jesus fish":

     During a 1991 visit to Istanbul, a buddy and I found ourselves in a
     small restaurant, drinking, dancing, and singing with a bunch of
     middle-class Turkish businessmen, mostly shop owners. It was a
     hilariously joyful evening, even though they spoke little English
     and we spoke considerably less Turkish.
     At the end of the night, after imbibing unquantifiable quantities
     of raki, an ouzo-like Turkish liqueur, one of the men gave me a
     worn-out business card. On the back, heâd scribbled an image. It
     was little more than a curlicue, but he seemed intent on showing it
     to me (and nobody else). It was, I realized, a Jesus fish.
     It was an eye-opening moment for me, though obviously trivial
     compared with the experiences of others. Here in this cosmopolitan
     and self-styled European city, this fellow felt the need to
     surreptitiously clue me in that he was a Christian just like me (or
     so he thought).
     Traditionally, the fish pictogram conjures the miracle of the
     loaves and fishes as well as the Greek word IXÎΥΣ, which means
     fish and also is an acronym for âJesus Christ, Godâs Son, Savior.â
     Christians persecuted by the Romans used to draw the Jesus fish in
     the dirt as a way to tip off fellow Christians that they werenât
     alone.
     In America, these fish appear mostly on cars. Recently, however, it
     seems Jesus fish have become outnumbered by Darwin fish. No doubt
     youâve seen these, too. The fish is âupdatedâ with little feet on
     the bottom, and âIXÎΥΣâ or âJesusâ is replaced with either
     âDarwinâ or âEvolve.â

   It's been a long time since I've really thought about the Darwin fish.
   At first, I found it offensive. A deliberate mockery of what, to my
   mind, was the purest symbol of my faith. Unlike the cross, which is
   often used as a piece of art with no real meaning, no one wears an
   ichthus unless they mean it. They know that it was a symbol of
   Christianity when being a Christian was dangerous. And, from Jonah's
   story, it's still used that way in places where it's dangerous today.
   So no one mocks that symbol in ignorance of what it means.
   It's hard to maintain outrage for a long length of time, however, and
   after a while I phased it out. I even used it in advertising for a
   discussion on evolution hosted by MIT's Christian groups. Still, it is
   the sort of insult that polite people are offended by. As Jonah is:

     I find Darwin fish offensive. First, thereâs the smugness. The
     undeniable message: Those Jesus fish people are less evolved, less
     sophisticated than we Darwin fishers.
     The hypocrisy is even more glaring. Darwin fish are often stuck
     next to bumper stickers promoting tolerance or admonishing that
     âhate is not a family value.â But the whole point of the Darwin
     fish is intolerance; similar mockery of a cherished symbol would
     rightly be condemned as bigoted if aimed at blacks or women or,
     yes, Muslims.

   Civilized debate would be greatly encouraged if people were more
   polite to one another.

References

   1. http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=MGRjODA3MWIwOWMyN2Y3ZWZjODZhYzAyMzg2MTBhYzE=