Go Fish

So Jonah Goldberg doesn't like the Darwin fish:

I find Darwin fish offensive. First, there's the smugness. The undeniable message: Those Jesus fish people are less evolved, less sophisticated than we Darwin fishers.

The hypocrisy is even more glaring. Darwin fish are often stuck next to bumper stickers promoting tolerance or admonishing random motorists that "hate is not a family value." But the whole point of the Darwin fish is intolerance; similar mockery of a cherished symbol would rightly be condemned as bigoted if aimed at blacks or women or, yes, Muslims.

1) Smugness? How is indicating you believe the science of evolution any more smug than letting the world know on the back of your car that you've found a religion that offers true answers to the deepest questions, answer that can't be found elsewhere?

2) Many people who use the fish symbol don't believe in evolution, and are even proud of their ignorance. Pointing out you believe in an alternative which actually has facts backing it up seems a fair thing to note.

3) Religion, which makes pretty extravagant claims for itself (often on pretty flimsy evidence) should be as freely commented on as any belief system. (And yes, we should also feel free to comment on symbols of movements that support blacks, women or Muslims.)

4) Where's the hypocrisy? The Darwin fish isn't about tolerance, it's about science. And if responding to people who make bad arguments against evolution is intolerance, then it's a good form of intolerance.

5) Cherished symbol? This is not the cross we're talking about, but a fish. And no one's adding a swastika to it. The're fighting one symbol with another, and as long as some feel they can put their symbol in front of us when we're stuck in traffic, why shouldn't others respond? In fact, the first time I saw the Darwin fish, I thought it was witty, and I encourage that. Even the Jesus fish eating the Darwin fish (which shows the Darwin people understood what this fight was about) is kind of clever, if ridiculous.