1 post tagged “fish”

    I'm sure everyone is familiar with the "fish wars". The airing of religious beliefs, takes on the origin of species, and various innocent jokes, through the symbolism of a small metallic sticker on the bumper of a car.
    There are way too many fish out there to list them all here, from the playful "cat" and "dog" fish, to alternative religious figures like an exceptionally round "Buddha" fish and the notorious "Flying Spaghetti Monster", plus a few more iniquitous options such as "Diablo" or "sinner" complete with mini devil horns. Regardless of their dubious implications these fish are all parodies of the original "ichthys" fish.
    Although the ichthys fish is now commonly accepted as a symbol of Christianity, the fish as a symbol can actually be traced back to early pagan beliefs, where it was an emblem of femininity and/or fertility. In fact, the ancient Greek word "delphos" means both "fish" and "womb". During the early Roman Empire when Christians were forced to meet in secret, they adopted the fish as a simple sign of their religion to help find safe meeting places and to recognize each other.
   

    In 1983 the most famous parody, the Darwin fish, was invented in California by Al Seckel and John Edwards. The design was first used on a free thought leaflet for Atheists United in 1984. Since the creation of the shiny silver automobile emblems in the early '90s, the main battle waged is between indignant creationists and evolutionists, in a chain of evolving (ha) rebuttals.


    Peace.