I’m sure they realize the distinction by and large. The point of the Darwin fish is to express allegience to a differing belief system. The teensy problem I have with that is that allegience is not what science is about.
Anybody know where I can get the emblem that has the Jesus fish holding hands (or kissing) the Darwin fish?
Yea, could be true; I don’t get out much. 
I guess I’m still feeling disgusted from the Intro Bio class I just finished up with. The pussyfooting and eggshell walking the professor had to do when teaching evolution just to keep things “balanced” was embarrassing.
So much for survival of the fittest, I guess…
The flip side can be true too. Many xians I know think the Darwin fish is solely a symbol of atheism. Atheists had no symbol last I recall.
Yea, this is one of the reasons I’ve NOT wanted to stick the fish up. But from my perception of the neighborhood, most people here are not making such subtle distinctions, so the real meaning of it doesn’t matter; I’m using it in the manner that they’re taking it.
Heh, my wife kept her anti-Bush sticker on her car throughout the war. Amazing how people react. And laughing at them seemed to piss them off more… 
I had a Darwin fish on my car in SoCal for almost ten years. Only response I ever got was when a guy came over to install our new security system, pointed at it, and said “I don’t agree with that.”
“Well, it’s your right to.”
Haven’t gotten a replacement fish for the new car, though I just think it’s a bit depressing that this question has to be asked at all.
I think that another problem that many people have with the fish is that it is parodying a well-known Christian symbol. As far as I know there is no compelling reason to express support or belief in Evolution by parodying a Christian symbol, since, as others have mentioned here, not all Christians have a problem with evolution. Besides, what does evolution have to do with the Christian fish? Nothing.
It’s just one of those “stick it to ya” mindsets that, in my opinion, runs the risk of triggering a whacko. (Granted, a very small percentage of whackos would do so in S. Calif., at least we assume.)
There are other evolution-themed stickers that don’t parody anything else in order to get their point across. I guess such stickers still run the risk of inspiring a whacko to get all bent out of shape, but they don’t have that “stick it to ya” thing going on.
It’s the “stick it to ya” thing that gets me. There are also those smug, overbearing Christian stickers that make me cringe (“In case of rapture, this car will be unoccupied.” UGH!) and so forth. (And I’m a Christian, by the way.) I just don’t like the “Stick it to ya,” “smug and sanctimonious” or “angry” stickers—of any stripe. Once again, ugh.
It’s just been a pet peeve of mine for a while. Some of the rest of you are braver than me; I just don’t want the grief. I’ll stick with my Yosemite stickers, I guess. 
My mom had one. She took it off because she worked at a Catholic hospital and one of the nuns tsked at her.
I had a Darfish on my pathfinder for 8 years or so. (I live in Texas) One day I came out of the grocery store to find it missing. Some moron ripped it off the back of my truck leaving behind that foam sticky.
I had to laugh though, the thing had been on my back window for so long, the sun faded the window tint beneath it. You can still see the outline of Darfish in my window.
There is justice after all
One of these days I will proofread more carefully.
That should read. The thing had been on my back window for so long, the sun faded the window tint AROUND it.
:smack:
I’m with you, there. It just smacks of hypocrisy; why do people get annoyed by fundamentalists? Because of that smug sense of superiority they have and get all up in your face with. So how do you respond? By putting a smug perversion of a religious symbol on the back of your car. “Oh yeah? Well, I know about evolution! Hah! Take that, Christians!” Just have to roll my eyes and shake my head.
Plus, I just think it’s obnoxious to mock people’s religion. It’s not “subversive,” it’s just boorish. I’d be interested to see how many of these people would be eager to mock Islam or Buddhaism.
My friend had at least one, if not two, Darwin Fish ripped off her car. This was while living/driving in various parts of Los Angeles county.
I’ll mock any religion that claims the earth is only 6,000 years old.
That’s not to say I go around mocking religion, by way of bumper stickers. But I’m also not afraid to share my beliefs (or lack of) if I’m asked.
Actually, there are a few.
'Not that any of 'em are widely known, though. It’s not like atheism has a central governing body or a big political lobby, or anything.
I had a Darwin fish on my car for a couple of years with no problem. (I live in Nebraska, which is certainly one of the most conservative states in the country.) One time some skinheads gave me the Nazi salute because of my RACE MIXING IS COOL bumper sticker, but I digress.
I traded that car in last summer, and the ‘new’ one doesn’t have a Darwin fish, but it does have a Linux shark. So far no one’s given me sh!t about it.
I live in the bible belt and I won’t really be concerned with people in parking lots or on the road. I would be concerned with a mechanic f-ing me over because he didn;t like the beliefs presented on my car.
As an aside, for a while here the “Jesus” front plates were popular. A friend of a friend said in false sotto voce as a blue-hair got out of one of these cars, “Man that Jesus (HEY-sus) sure has a lot of cars.”
We had a big pit debate about this several years ago. Someone kept finding their Darwin fish torn off and I said that I did not have much sympathy for them. The problem with the Darwin fish is that it is not so much an expression of your beliefs but the mocking of someone else’s. Now if you just had something like this that would be better as it is an expression of your beliefs without desecrating a religious symbol(however I still think that anyone with such a sticker is a jerk who just wants to try and prove how much better and smarter he is from everyone else, sorry I could not find a less divisive example.)
Special dispensation is given to the CthulhuFish because it is so cool.
I don’t think it is making fun of christianity, it’s making fun of fundamentalists. Are there liberal, non-judgemental christians who put Jesus fish on their vehicles?
BTW, someone ripped my Darwin fish off just outside of Portland, Oregon.
Yes! Exactly! You nailed it.
That’s my take on it too. It’s the mocking of someone else’s symbol or belief that is the sticking point.
Why would you think that there would not be? Is there some cut-off point between who and who will not put a fish sticker on their car? Is there some unwritten rule that says that the non-judgmental types are not allowed to use this sticker? Because if so, I missed the memo.
What exactly is it about a fish sticker that is so irksome that it deserves to be parodied, anyway? It does not symbolise fundamentalism, it symbolizes Christianity. It doesn’t have some smug and superior “stick it to ya” message, it’s just a fish. It’s been around for a while, too.
I try to think that I’m not smug, superior or “in your face” with my religion (I’d never wear one of those “Look at me! I’m a Christian!” t-shirts. ::shudder:: ) but when I see a Christian fish, I don’t think “fundamentalist,” I see “unspecified Christian.” If I were inclined to put any religious-related sticker on my car, it would most likely be a Christian fish, because it seems far more low-key and less obnoxious than some of the cutesy or potentially sanctimonious Christian bumper stickers I see.
The thing that bugs me is that the Darwin fish seems to imply that there’s a fundamental incompatibility between being a christian and believing in the theory of evolution. There isn’t. This point has been repeated over and over in the EvC threads.
It’s like when some atheists tried to make “Darwin Day” some sort of Atheist holiday. Darwin, like all science, belongs to everybody, Christian and Atheist alike.
Also I too don’t see what’s so obnoxious about the Jesus fish that it needs to be mocked. It seems like a nice quiet affirmation of ones faith which has just as much relevance for sensible sane Christians as it does for loony fundamentalists.
Apparently she didn’t get the memo from the Pope that told us we’re cool with science now.
I know someone that ran a very successful carpet cleaning business and he had a giant fish on the side of his “carpet cleaning mobile” with a message that read “Yes, I’m saved” he said even athiests let him clean their hosue…
When I was in junior high I had a friend that ripped a few darwin fish off vehicles, he got caught once.
OK I have a question…when someone has both the Darwin and the Jesus fish, that means they are a Christian who believes in evolution?