A Fish of a Different Color.

OK…So I’m tooling along Hebron Parkway (Yeah, it’s Texas) between Plano and my place when a fellow in a red Ford van cuts in front of me. No problem, I’m not in a huge hurry so I back off a bit. That was when I noticed it…the ubiquitous “Christian Fish”... prominently displayed on his rear bumper. More and more these days I find myself in awe of how few brain waves some folks manage to get by on.

A while later, after Mr. High Testosterone Christian had weaved into yet another lane, I passed him when he got stuck behind another car. A moment later he was on my tail and, via my rearview mirror, I noticed him leaning front, seeming to stare at MY bumper.

"I wonder", I thought. Yeah, as you might have guessed, my bumper sports a “Darwin Fish”. Can’t let superstitious crackers go totally unchallenged now, can we?

Well soon HTC swung into the outside lane and, believe it or not, I saw him glaring at me as he whipped past. I really did try to suppress my smile. Honest.

Once home, I started wondering about the whole fish thing. When, how did it become a Christian symbol? I had always thought it originated with Yeshua himself, or at least with the earliest Christians. So I did some research, and…

It’s true that the old water-walker supposedly referred to his disciples as “fishers of men”, and we all know the story about how he even out-did the make-do prowess of my Aunt Sarah by feeding almost a gazillion hangers-on with some day-old bread and a couple of ripe fish, but, and here’s the thing…there is no evidence the fish was all that important a symbol of the original Jesus Movement.

Rather, the fish was a religious symbol in pagan cultures at least six centuries before Mary pulled the wool over Joseph’s eyes with her incredible story.

Barbara G. Walker, in "The Woman's Dictionary of Symbols and Sacred Objects", writes that the acronym (using the greek spelling of fish) pertaining to Jesus was a "rationale invented after the fact". Christians simply copied this pagan symbol along with all the other pagan symbols they pinched -- Christmas on the winter solstice, Easter following the vernal equinox, the virgin birth, sacrifice and resurrection…all well known symbols and myths predating Jesus.

Ichthys was the offspring son of the ancient Sea goddess Atargatis, and was known in various mythic systems as Tirgata, Aphrodite, Pelagia or Delphine. The word also meant "womb" and "dolphin" in some tongues, and representations appear in the mythology of mermaids. The fish is also a central element in other myths, including the Goddess of Ephesus (who has a fish amulet covering her genital region), and the tale of the fish that swallowed the penis of Osiris. A fish was also considered a symbol of the vulva of Isis. 

Along with being a generative and reproductive spirit in mythology, the fish also has been identified in certain cultures with reincarnation and the life force. Sir James George Frazer noted in his work, "Adonis, Attis, Osiris: Studies in the History of Oriental Religion" that among one group in India, the fish was believed to house a deceased soul, and that as part of a fertility ritual specific fish is eaten in the belief that it will be reincarnated in a newborn child. 

So well before Christianity then, the fish symbol was well known among the ancients. Another example is as "the Great Mother," a pointed oval sign, the "vesica piscis" or Vessel of the Fish. "Fish" and "womb" were synonymous terms in ancient Greek,"delphos." Its link to fertility, birth, feminine sexuality and the natural force of women was acknowledged also by the Celts, as well as pagan cultures throughout northern Europe.

Eleanor Gaddon traces a "Cult of the Fish Mother" as far back as the hunting and fishing people of the Danube River Basin in the sixth millennium B.C.E. Over fifty shrines have been found throughout the region which depict a fishlike deity, a female creature who "incorporates aspects of an egg, a fish and a woman which could have been a primeval creator or a mythical ancestress..." The "Great Goddess" was portrayed elsewhere with oversized breasts, accentuated buttocks and a conspicuous vaginal orifice, the upright "vesica piscis" which Christians later adopted and rotated 90-degrees to serve as their symbol.

Look…if you’re a Christian and this upsets you, I’m sorry. But I have a duty to you…to hold up the truth in front of you, to show you that your religion isn’t some bright, new revelation, but rather a compilation of myths and practices that can be traced as far back in human history as we can see. There is nothing new about the claims made for your Christ – shepherds, caves, virgins, savior, resurrection…all retreads, all seen many times before, all well-known myths to folks living in first century Palestine.

And the fish is just one more Christian retread.

So get ye hence and, if you must prostrate your intellect to one or another superstition, at least try to find an original one.

Food for thought:

"In the 12th chapter of Joshua is given a list of 31 kingdoms which were conquered by Israel. This was in the fifteenth century B.C. From this time forward they are represented as a mighty nation by the Bible and Christian apologists. But the facts say other.

Rameses III overran Canaan and conquered it between 1280 and 1260 B.C. The Egyptian records give a list of all the tribes inhabiting it. The children of Israel-- the Hebrews-- were not there.

In the 5th century B.C., when Herodotus, the father of History, was collecting materials for his immortal work, he traversed nearly every portion of Western Asia. He describes all its principal peoples and places; but the Jews and Jerusalem are of too little consequence to merit a line from his pen. Not until 332 B.C. do the Jews appear upon the stage of history, and then only as the submissive vassals of a Grecian king." -- John E. Remsburg, The Bible (1901), pg. 263.

State of the Union in 50 Seconds...

This Opportunity is Limited!

I hereby announce the formation of a dynamic new religious opportunity, Atheists for Christ.^tm

Further, it has been revealed unto me that I have been anointed Prophet-in-Chief, thereby serving as the sole source of all AfC revelation.

Additionally, in as much as it has also been revealed to me that Heaven is much smaller than previously thought, membership will need to be limited to only 250,000 on a first come, first served basis.  Of these, only 50,000 of the saved may be males.  (The number of faithful dogs however is unlimited.)

The initial membership donation has been set at $39.95, with an annual renewal and soul-cleansing donation of $19.95.  (Life memberships are available for $199.95) Try beating that at your run of the mill church down the street.

In return for your membership and complete submission to my revelations, you will receive absolutely nothing. 

But that’s not all!  Act now, and as an added bonus I guarantee that all your prayers will be answered at precisely the same rate and with results identical to those you experienced in the Abrahamic Faith of your previous choice.  (Sorry, bonus cannot be extended to godless heathens.)

Since ours is a digital faith, there will be no edifices of worship, no clerics, and no missionaries, meaning that your tax base will not be further eroded, your children will be safer from clerical molestation, and your dinner will never be interrupted.

Make out your checks today to John E. Shuey and mail to 4457 Empty Skies Drive, Skepticville, TX, 75666.  (Female applicants please include a recent photo of yourself in a bathing suit or lingerie.)

“May nothing be with you.” ^tm

Mea Culpa. Sort of.

Ok, so I am usually critical of government, government programs, and especially government employees.  I need to slightly modify my schtick, and here's why:

Last week I put a hold on our mail delivery because we were planning to spend this week in Key West.  Then, on Christmas, my mother-in-law died and the trip was off.

Consequently, on Sunday, I cancelled the hold mail request.

Monday no mail came.  Ok, it may take a while for the cancellation to make its way through the system.

Tuesday, still no mail.  Hmmmm...

Today, our mail carrier whizzed by our mailbox again, so I flagged her down.  No, she reported, she had not gotten word of the cancellation, but would start our delivery tomorrow.  Government.

An hour ago our doorbell rang; it was our carrier, with her private vehicle and on her way home for the day, dropping off our accumulated mail.  Damn!

Is there any way just to make this woman President for life?

Liberty vs Big Government: An Insight from The Advocates for Self-Government

Libertarians have lots of great answers to political questions.

Sometimes, however, it's better to ask questions instead of giving answers. Asking the right question, or asking a question in the right way, can stimulate mind-opening insights.

Here's one example of a great question, from Wall Street Journal editor John Fund.

Suppose someone is talking about the need for a major government role in providing for the poor. Instead of lecturing the person (which could start an argument and put the person on the defensive), try asking this question:

"Imagine you won the lottery or otherwise came into a large sum of money, and you wanted to help the poor. You could give $100,000 to a private charity of your choice. Or you could write your check to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Which would you choose -- and why?"

Virtually no one chooses government! And in answering the question, people convince themselves of the advantages of charity over government.

Questions make people think. It's amazing how often people will come up with the libertarian answer to a problem, if you give them a chance. And if they do so, they are more likely to accept that answer.

Visit The Advocates for Self-Government.

Kill the Freaking Goose. Screw the Barnyard.

Some folks would rather strangle the golden goose than lift up the entire barnyard.

Purportedly the friends of the working class and down-trodden, once again the Pelosi Left in the House of Representatives has exhibited its true colors.

Presented with the opportunity to reach a number of their prized goals (or what they claim to be their prized goals), the Pelosi-ites instead reverted to their time-honored tradition of not just wealth envy, but a visceral hatred of the wealthy.

As a result, taxes will increase on the working poor by 50%, benefits will not be extended for the chronically unemployed, and scores of millions of lower and middle income workers will not see an economy-stimulating 2% reduction in their payroll taxes.  All…all willingly sacrificed in order to punish our nation’s most productive and successful citizens.

Why not raise taxes on these wealthy few, moan the envious enemies of getting ahead, after all they represent such a very small minority.  

To which one must logically respond:  If the numbers are so few, why not forgo using them for political whipping things and instead help the much larger number you claim to care so much about? No need to respond; we all know the answer.

Climate Change -- The Rational Middle

The Why, not the What...

The following video can, I believe, be a great help in jump starting the Liberty Movement, and bringing large and small L libertarians into positions to correct the excesses of the past as well as chart a future where the rights and interests of the individual are not just preserved, but cherished.




A tip of my hat to John Jay Myers.

"Why do some Atheists seem so angry?"

.
I get a lot of the "Why are you so angry?" bullshit.  Not nearly so much as many of my more famous and thus more exposed contemporaries of course, but enough to warrant an answer.


I was in the midst of formulating a response when I happened upon one "Sam Singleton, Atheist Evangelist".  In the accompanying brief video, Brother Sam does a far better job of explaining the source of "Atheist anger", as well as its actual target (No, it's not some imaginary, invisible patch of ectoplasm in-the-sky), than I ever could.


So here, speaking largely for me, and I suspect fifteen to twenty million other Atheists in this U S of A, is Brother Sam Singleton:

Heaven, or Hell?

While walking down the street one day a corrupt Senator was tragically hit by a car and died.

Instantaneously his soul arrived in heaven and was met by St. Peter at the entrance.

"Welcome to heaven," said St. Peter. "Before you settle in, it seems there is a problem. We seldom see a high official around these parts, you see, so we're not sure what to do with you."

"No problem, just let me in," said the Senator.

"Well, I'd like to, but I have orders from the higher ups. What we'll do is have you spend one day in hell and one in heaven. Then you can choose where to spend eternity."

"Really?  But I've made up my mind. I want to be in heaven," the Senator replied.

"I'm sorry, but we have our rules."

So St. Peter escorted him to the elevator and down, down, down he went to hell.

The doors opened and, to his surprise, the Senator found himself in the middle of a green golf course. In the distance was a clubhouse and standing in front of it were all his friends and other politicians who had worked with him.

Everyone seemed very happy and in evening dress. Seeing him, they ran to greet him, shook his hand, and reminisced about the good times they had while getting rich at the expense of the people. Together they played a friendly game of golf and then dined on lobster, caviar and the finest champagne

During the festivities Satan walked in, a very friendly guy who had a good time dancing and telling jokes.

Before the Senator realized it, his day was up and it was time to return to heaven.

Everyone gave him a hearty farewell and waved as the elevator began its ascent.

The elevator rose up, up, up, and finally the door opened in heaven where St. Peter stood waiting for him. 

"Now it's time to visit heaven", the kindly old Saint beckoned.

The next twenty-four hours passed with the Senator joining a group of contented souls moving from cloud to cloud, playing the harp and singing.  Again, he had a good time and, before he realized it St. Peter had returned and stood before him.

"Well then", he said, "you've spent a day in hell and another in heaven. Now you must choose your eternity.

The Senator reflected for a minute before he answered.  "Well, I would never have thought it, I mean heaven has been delightful, but I think I would be happier and  better off back down in hell."

St. Peter dutifully escorted him to the elevator, and in no time he was plunging back down, down, down to hell.

Finally the doors of the elevator opened and to his utter shock he found himself in the middle of a barren land covered with waste and garbage.  He located all his friends, who now were dressed in rags, bending and picking up trash and putting it in bags as more trash continued to fall from above and flames rose all around them.

Satan walked over to him and put his arm around his shoulders.

"I don't understand," stammered the Senator. "Yesterday when I was here there was a golf course and a clubhouse, and we all  ate lobster and caviar, drank champagne, and danced and had a great time. Now there's just a wasteland full of garbage and my friends look miserable. What happened?  I don't understand"

The devil smiled knowingly at him and replied,  "Yesterday was the campaign.  Then you voted.  Now the election is over."  

Choose wisely on November 2nd my friends.

Vote Libertarian.

Madison on the proper role of government...

What does the Constitution say about the proper role of government? Just what was the intent of its framers?

James Madison is regarded as both the primary author of the Constitution and a prime mover of the Bill of Rights. On 03 March, 1809 Madison was inaugurated as the fourth president of the United States, and defined his goals and intentions as:

"To cherish peace and friendly intercourse with all nations having correspondent dispositions; to maintain sincere neutrality toward belligerent nations; to prefer in all cases amicable discussion and reasonable accommodation of differences to a decision of them by an appeal to arms; to exclude foreign intrigues and foreign partialities, so degrading to all countries and so baneful to free ones; to foster a spirit of independence too just to invade the rights of others, too proud to surrender our own, too liberal to indulge unworthy prejudices ourselves and too elevated not to look down upon them in others; to hold the union of the States as the basis of their peace and happiness; to support the Constitution, which is the cement of the Union, as well as its limitations as in its authorities; to respect the rights and authorities reserved to the States and to the people as equally incorporated with and essential to the success of the general system; to avoid the slightest interference with the rights of conscience or the functions of religion, so wisely exempted from civil jurisdiction; to preserve in their full energy the other salutary provisions in behalf of private and personal rights, and the freedom of the press; to observe economy in public expenditures; to liberate the public resources by an honorable discharge of the public debts; to keep within the requisite limits a standing military force, always remembering that an armed and trained militia is the firmest bulwark of republics – that without standing armies their liberties can never be in danger, nor with large ones safe; to promote by authorized means improvements friendly to agriculture, to manufacturers, and to external as well as internal commerce; to favor in like manner the advancement of science and the diffusion of information as the best aliment to true liberty;…”

Once we get beyond the incredible length of this single, run-on sentence, two things come to mind:

1. All or at worst most of what he said could be mistaken as coming from a Libertarian Party platform, and
2. Neither of the two major parties have even taken a single phrase in the address, much less the entirety of its intent, seriously.