Bad Religion

Yesterday, I was looking for some clipart online, and I come across an image of what looked like a JC fish that said "truth" on it eating a “Darwin” fish. Maybe you’ve seen these “Darwin” fish on cars – they look like the Jesus fish, but they say “Darwin" and have legs. Pretty humorous. (Sidenote: they actually sell replacement legs for these Darwin fish because militant Christians have been breaking off the legs - way to go Christians! Violently forcing people to believe in peace and love, that's the idea! "Let's break off their legs so they believe what we believe!") So, apparently the marketing folks at JC Inc. came across this new JC fish eating the Darwin fish in retaliation.

But it got me thinking – are there REALLY people out there that don’t believe in evolution?? That is just shocking to me. Who are these people? I really want to have a conversation with one of those people. I feel a bit like Ross on that Friends episode where Phoebe says she doesn’t believe in evolution.

Personally, I think that it is possible for religious people to believe in BOTH evolution and the JC/God/Sacred Casper triumvirate (you may insert your deity/higher power here). Maybe it is part of the master plan that the world started off a certain way that was commenced by an omniscient being – maybe a “big bang” initiated in the divine chemistry lab, ala Grandpa Munster. But then the world grew and evolved.

I think if you believe in history, you have to believe in evolution. Why is it so hard to believe that we were once apes? We have evidence that even viruses evolve – that’s why you need a new flu shot every year.

Just over 100 years ago, we didn’t have cars, we didn’t have antibiotics, we didn’t have computers or phones or airplanes. Wouldn’t you call the last 100 years an evolution of sorts? You can argue that we aren’t any better off with all of this “advanced technology” – but you can’t argue that we know more about our world and how it all works than we did 100, 500, 1000 years ago.

And we’ll know even more 100 years from now. Guess what – that’s evolution!

Speaking of religion, apparently the biggest issue facing our world right now is that, somewhere out there, among us, even living right next door to us, there are homosexuals. I find it just shocking that this is the big hot topic in our society – yes, this is even more shocking than the idea that people might not believe in evolution.

So, let me get this straight – people killing each other, rampant diseases, hunger, homelessness, abuse, global warming, war – those things all pale in comparison to the idea that somewhere, someplace, people are loving each other. That’s right – they are loving each other, and it’s just shocking! The religious right and politically conservative in this country must put a stop to it!

Ever think about the kind of impact people could have if they put that kind of energy toward ending genocide, feeding children, or even just BEING NICE TO EACH OTHER??

Now, that is the most shocking idea of all.

PS: While looking for a picture of the fish, I found this great article from the NY Times about the phenomenon: Jesus Fish, Darwin Fish: Unexpected Evolution of a Fish Out of Water

Below, my favorite fish parodies...