Darwin Fish

I've noticed that a huge number of cars here in the US have those Jesus fish emblems on the back. Usually it's just empty except for a cross for the eye but occasionally you see the word ΙΧΘΥΣ included. So, given that I now own a car, I decided to buy a plaque of my own. I considered the Flying Spaghetti Monster and even one of the Jesus fish being mounted but thought they were a little too belligerent.

The Darwin fish, on the other hand, is not so much an insult to anyone else's faith. Sure, it's a parody but not everyone with a Jesus fish has to be a creationist (at least it's not a necessary connection). Instead, the Darwin fish is a symbol of my commitment to HPS!

It came in the mail today, I just have to attach it to my car. I have considered the possibility that someone will take offense (at my HPS pride) and do something to my car but it's such a shit-box already that I'm willing to take that risk. (Seriously, if they were to scratch it with a key or even kick a big dent in it, there's a good chance I wouldn't notice the damage among all the other dents and scratches!)

Addendum - 1st November, 2006.
I should have mentioned that the car actually came with quite a few stickers: AAA, an illegible free Tibet, a couple of ultimate frisbees, some mathematical society and even a JJJ so old it was peeling off. But there was also one that I just couldn't work out.

I didn't think much of it until the other day when I saw another car with the same sticker. But still that didn't help me work out what it meant. Then just now I saw that one of my friends on Facebook listed same-sex marriage as an election issue that concerned him (he's in a same-sex marriage, actually) and the page had that logo! So obviously I'll leave that sticker on. I'm just glad I wasn't driving around with an "oppose same-sex marriage" sticker!

Creationists Say the Darndest Things

I'm enjoying my latest lot of marking, for a change. One assignment they had was to visit a creationist website, read a few articles and write about what they learnt. I got a full spectrum of responses. Below are some choice quotes (bad spelling and grammar in original):

...one of the few things that evolutionist and creationist agree on is that the world is round.

According to Morris [in heaven] each person will get their Garden of Eden to look after on one of the many galaxies... I don't know which interpretation is right but I do know that heaven is going to be breathtaking.

The general impression I got from the five articles I read was one of defensiveness, negative statements, and a general unwillingness to compromise... Apologies if I seem particularly irked by these writers. I seems to me that there was absolutely no attempt by them to be objective in their articles, which I suppose should be expected, as this is an interest group with an agenda... there was no chance I could trust anything I was reading...

The thing that really caught my attention while I was reading through the articles, was the thorough, and well-organized argument that the authors wrote with. There was no mindless arguing.

He states that evolution is not observable science because we cannot observe the process today, and we were not in the past to observe what occurred then... I think what he says is bit hypocritical because we were not living when God created earth...

...there is no right or wrong religion to teach children, there are only more accurate versions.

I've learned about evolution since the seventh grade and I still go to church, worship God, and live a Christian lifestyle.

Those last two bother me in a different way to the straight-up creationism. Many of the students chose to reveal their personal beliefs and occasionally their church attendance habits but there was no one admit to being an atheist or even agnostic.

The shit may hit the fan tomorrow (here's hoping!) when we talk about whether atheism necessarily follows from evolution. Of course I'll say that it doesn't. But I will ask them, "What would be so bad if evolution did lead to atheism?" I guess I've identified as an atheist long enough now for the word not to have the negative connotations it once had for me. (I am a little sensitive to those claims that morality requires religion in particular.)

Funny Place Names

Rural America has many small towns with funny names. Most of them are Biblical, eg Nineveh, Indiana, but others are classical, eg Memphis, Tennessee or Carthage, Indiana. (Obviously the townsfolk of Nineveh were just skimming their Bible for names, without giving any thought to the connotations.) And don't get me started on their pronunciation of Edinburgh, In.!

Then yesterday I drove through the sleepy little hamlet of Hindustan, Indiana. Why, oh why, would one use a name like Hindustan for a town in rural America? Hindustan was a pagan country; India still is, by and large. The name hasn't even been sanctified by appearing in the Bible nor has Jonah gone there to convert the inhabitants.

Oh, and stranger still, I just happened to have a pair of Indians in the car with me as I was driving past there. They found it quite amusing.

...Even if he does say "Jehovah"!

I've just discovered that two of my sixty undergrad students write God as "G-d"! Hilarious! The strange thing is that they're not defending creationism but they fear Yahweh enough not to write his euphemistic title out in full. Go figure. I wonder if they take a bath before writing it. (I asked the other AI about this. Being a Red Sea pedestrian himself he didn't find it so weird but said he never does it himself. And apparently it's only the tetragrammaton that you have to take a bath for.)

I already make a habit of saying "Yahweh" as much as possible but next time I do it I'll have to watch them to see if they flinch. But, you know, I'm a very brave person when it comes to naming names, I even say "Voldemort" out loud!

Online Evangelism

Have you ever noticed how anonymity lowers your inhibitions? Specifically, how people are more willing to discuss sensitive issues online? (This blog is just one example.)

Skype brings this out in a lot of people. I already noticed that new Skype contacts will often ask "Do you have a girlfriend?" within the first few minutes (one German girl even asked "Are you gay?" before I got a chance to tell her that I did have a girlfriend). I've got to talking religion with a few of my long-term Skype friends but today was the first time that it came up so suddenly. Here's a transcript:

Nick: it's Sunday morning here in the USA
myan: ah okay..Did you attend church aleady?
Nick: I don't go to church
myan: What??????
Nick: never
unless it's someone else's wedding or funeral
myan: why????
Nick: if you must know, because I don't believe in God
myan: (raised eyebrow emoticon)
Nick: You asked!
myan: why????
Nick: Why don't I believe? Do you believe in Vishnu? Zeus? Odin? Why not?
myan: (surprised emoticon)
Nick: well, why don't you believe in Vishnu?
myan: The greatest lost you could ever have in life is not to have Jesus in life....think of what I said...I enjoy my life with Jesus and I cant explain how joy i have ....full joy that no one could take away....hope you can decide... your still young... think.....God Bless still!!

She didn't receive my last comment, which was:

Ok, that may be true. I do believe that Jesus makes you happy. But what do you say to the Hindu who tells you that "I enjoy my life with Vishnu"?

I don't know whether she actually blocked me or just logged off. Meh.

(N.B. While it's a little frustrating to talk to narrow-minded people of any sort, I didn't find this conversation offensive like the chat I had with a Chinese girl who told me that she hates all Japanese.)