Please copy and paste the posts that indicate that anyone who “mocks” someone else “deserves” vandalism. I keep on hearing this charge being made, but I have yet to see any evidence of it on this thread. Maybe I missed something - so please - copy and paste, will ya? 
Fair enough. “Attack” is certainly too strong a word (although I don’t think I have actually used this word in any of my posts). What gets to me is that some people who display the fish claim that it is exclusively an expression of their beliefs, and has no connection at all to the original Christian fish. A little good-natured piss-taking is fine, but some of these people seem convinced that the fish was never a piss-take.
But we’re not talking about just any fish symbol, we’re talking about the one that is made of two intersecting arcs and is well known as a Christian symbol. There are plenty of cross designs that clearly have no connection to the Christian cross. The Darwin fish was designed to make the viewer recall the Christian fish.
Anyway, I have been unable to find any cites that discuss the origin of the Darwin fish in terms of “The Darwin fish was designed in (year) by (name), who intended it to be a statement of (purpose).”
I have found other message boards where posters who display Darwin fish on their cars have discussed their own reasons for doing so. Among these reasons:
-As a reaction to what they see as others wearing their religion on their sleeve
-Simple expression of their support of Darwinian theory
-Expression atheist sentiment
-As an indication that they are Christian but not Creationist
I can respect the fact that people use the fish for these various reasons, but I still hold that the fish’s original intent was as a taunt, though another poster here suggested that it was meant less to offend than to poke innocent fun, which I guess I could see.
I am still mystified by those who claim to use it as a symbol of their atheism. Not only is Darwinism not an atheist theory, but neither does it stand in opposition to Christianity. Not to mention the fact that the whole “the opposite of atheism is Christianity” misperception got old a long time ago.
KyomaraThanks for the effort. I went to your websites, though, and couldn’t seem to find the parts where the authors agreed with your contentions.
- "Regardless of who has the credit, the science is clear. The Plain Jesus Fish was cross bred with many other species in carefully controlled laboratory conditions. The feet on the Darwin Fish are actually the feet of Charles Darwin himself. Miraculously, Darwin’s offspring had the foresight to preserve Darwin’s body with great care and complete copies of his DNA were found intact. This DNA was given to Gilman in early 1984 and he quickly developed genetic techniques to isolate the feet genes and graft them onto the Plain Jesus Fish chromosomes which luckily had useless proteins in the analogous position. "
Kind of silly. I don’t see evidence of “taunting”. I do see evidence of “poking fun”.
- And I couldn’t find any references to “Darwin Fish” when I typed it in as a search term at DarwinTalk.
I did see a Jesus Fish eating a Darwin Fish. I was not offended, FWIW, which is not much I guess.
Cross-post! (We’re converging, I think).
I’m not sure what “piss-take” means; I would agree at least that Darwin fish is certainly a parody.
"The Darwin fish was designed to make the viewer recall the Christian fish. " Granted. Specifically the Christian fish that is affixed to the back of cars.
Thanks for digging into the newsgroups.
Here’s where the people on those sites seem to agree at least to the fact that the Darwin fish was a reaction to the Christian one.
From my third link above:
From the above mentioned Darwintalk:
But again, these aren’t scholarly sites, just a couple more guys with opinions like everyone else in this thread. Just wanted to let you know what I was looking at.
I’m not convinced that there is such a big difference between “taunting” and “poking fun,” but whatever.
“Piss-take” is a term borrowed from our English friends. It basically means making fun of something, but tends to suggest that the humor involved is very subtle and dry.
Don’t mention it. If I did half this much work in Great Debates, I would be KING. 
Okay, this post has gotten three pages longer than when I first read it and I thought it was already too big to post then, so although I’m going to not get involved in all the conflict and discussion that’s going on, I simply want to say that Lightnin’, I hope you find this little punk and kick his ass. Whether you do it legally or physically, I don’t mind, just make sure you knock some sense into him and get some satisfaction from it. That type of shit is just wrong. You’re a cool guy, and don’t deserve that kind of crap, so make sure you get this guy. If you need help, i’m available between 1-4 on the weekdays, and I can swing a mean kendo stick. Best of luck to you, and happy hunting.
I know you were joking, but since Super Glue dries in something like 10 seconds, there are probably better options Tree sap comes to mind as something that is completely obnoxious to wash off… muahahaha
(email me your address and I’ll have one shipped to you)
Opal, You. Fuckin’. Rock!
Sending it now.
Put a fresh coat of super glue on the outer surface of your newest fish just before bed time. Then, look for the poor schmuck with bits of Darwin fish stuck to his fingers.
inkblot