Funny!

Just so we understand each other...the Christian 'fish' symbol is from the Greek 'icthus' (fish) whose letters form the acronym of 'Jesus Christ, Son of God' in Greek. The fish was a symbol that allowed first-century Christians, under the brutal persecution of the Roman government, to recognize each other in relative secret.The Darwin fish symbol mocks the icthus. In doing so, it mocks Christ. It also mocks the deeply-held beliefs of millions of people who bear you no ill will. Finally, it mocks the suffering and death of thousands of first-century Christians and the brutal persecution that millions of Christians under repressive Communist and Islamic regimes face today.I suppose that whoever designed the Darwin fish symbol did not mean this, but was instead an ignoramus who thought the icthus symbol had something to do with young earth creationism, of which many Christians are not proponents. But it is sad that otherwise decent people propagate such pathetic ignorance, bad taste, and bigotry.[This message has been edited by zipzip, 01-18-2003]

John, fish have been around for a long time and have obviously been used as symbols by animistic pagan cultures, just like any other type of animal. My point is that the stylized Christian fish, which indisputably represented Christ and was used by early Christians because of its symbolic acronym, is the symbol that is mocked. No Christian, early or otherwise, saw the fish symbol as a representation of the genitals of the Earth mother (or whatever [sheesh, rolling my eyes]). That is just *crap* (this needs to resound, so imagine Mike Myers in Scottish brogue through a PA system). And no Darwin-fish-symbol-wearing pseudointellectual out there has a beef with the Earth mother's genitals -- the fish symbolizes Christ to them as well.The same goes for the cross, which was a symbol that Christians appropriated from the Romans, who saw in it only shame and despair. The *new* symbolism supplanted the old. There are many other examples -- Christmas and All-Hallows Eve chosen to supplant old pagan holidays with new symbolism. The dates were the same, but worshipping Christ instead of worshipping the created order were clearly different.

Sorry, not a Catholic, so I can't comment on the specific saint...However, their coopted saint probably exhibits Christ-like characteristics and acts as an encouragement to Catholics to exhibit those characteristics themselves -- love God first and foremost, love neighbor and treat as oneself, persevere in the face of adversity, strive for the fruits of the spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, and self-control...), etc. The coopted Goddess has changed her name and changed her ideals. I think she is a convert.This is sort of like taking a Geo Metro, ripping out and replacing everything except the plastic/sheet metal shell, painting that another color, and then changing the person to whom the car is licensed. Is it still the same Geo Metro? If so, then we need to tell those Catholics to STOP COOPTING PAGAN GODDESSES, #$%@!