Bumper sticker: What message is this sending?

[DaveC426913]

If you saw this on the bumper of a car, would you assume something about the owner's religious beliefs?

Obviously a scuba diver, but would you think this person is http://www.seiyaku.com/customs/fish/fish.html" ?

http://www.stickergiant.com/Merchant2/imgs/250/b2456.gif

 

[Moonbear]

I'd think the person had a good sense of humor...and was into scuba. I wouldnt' assume they were mocking religion; they just might not know what the fish mean and think it's some fad. I was fairly "old" before I knew what those fish were all about, so I can understand someone just not knowing if they weren't brought up around people who believed in things like that.

 

[gutti]

What makes you think at all that the picture is religious?

 

[DaveC426913]

What makes you think at all that the picture is religious?

A perfectly valid answer, but for your info, I have edited the initial post with links.

 

[Evo]

I don't see anything wrong with it. Look at those flippers on the feet! You did notice that this has two feet and an air tank and that it's a diver not a fish, right?

 

[DaveC426913]

I don't see anything wrong with it. Look at those flippers on the feet! You did notice that this has two feet and an air tank and that it's a diver not a fish, right?

Yes, but that's not the question.

 

[Evo]

I voted "none of the above", I think it's cute.

 

[gutti]

Oh right I checked the links and I realize what it means now, but I don't think they are doing either I do not know about it and many people around the world do not so I would just say ignorant and they think it looks kool as i did when I first saw it.

 

[Kurdt]

I'd have thought they were a religious scuba diver.

I like the pastafarianism fish. Its the tastiest.

 

[mgb_phys]

I think the owner is mocking fish - which is a bad move for a diver, they outnumber you and they are on home ground!

 

[Huckleberry]

Yup, religious scuba diver. That's where my money would be. The owner of this bumper sticker has obviously created his own branch of Christianity called the Church of SCUBA. It's rather ingenious really. Their missionaries search for converts underseas, where other disciples have not yet spread the word.

 

[out of whack]

I though it was the fish mocking divers!

No really, it's just a clever pop art rendition based on another pop art symbol that happens to be ancient. It means nothing to me other than being catchy. Of course someone else somewhere will find it offensive and will call his local representative to put an end to this terrible hate crime.

 

[Moonbear]

I think the owner is mocking fish - which is a bad move for a diver, they outnumber you and they are on home ground!

:rofl:

I though it was the fish mocking divers!

No really, it's just a clever pop art rendition based on another pop art symbol that happens to be ancient. It means nothing to me other than being catchy. Of course someone else somewhere will find it offensive and will call his local representative to put an end to this terrible hate crime.

Sadly, you could be right.

 

[GleefulNihilism]

I said mocking religion, but it's not entirely accurate.

It's mocking a catch-all over-done symbol used by religion.

 

[Cyrus]

Ooooooooo, I am going to make one of those fishies that says 'evolution' and sell it. Patent pending, patent pending, patent pending!

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Ooooooooo, I am going to make one of those fishies that says 'evolution' and sell it. Patent pending, patent pending, patent pending!

http://www.evolvefish.com/fish/media/E-Evolve.gif

http://www.evolvefish.com/fish/media/S-DarwinBlackSilver.jpg

 

[scorpa]

Has anyone seen those fish with little feet that say Darwin inside instead of Jesus? I saw one of those on a car once.

 

[scorpa]

Ivan you must have posted like 2 seconds ahead of me...harumph

 

[Ivan Seeking]

If you saw this on the bumper of a car, would you assume something about the owner's religious beliefs?

Obviously a scuba diver, but would you think this person is http://www.seiyaku.com/customs/fish/fish.html" ?

I wouldn't assume anything either way.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Ivan you must have posted like 2 seconds ahead of me...harumph

Be sure to check the links in Dave's post.

 

[Garth]

Ooooooooo, I am going to make one of those fishies that says 'evolution' and sell it. Patent pending, patent pending, patent pending!

It's been done (nearly).

Garth

 

[Astronuc]

Third choice "neither of the other two". One cannot discern by symbol the religious proclivities of the one displaying the symbol.

 

[DaveC426913]

Third choice "neither of the other two". One cannot discern by symbol the religious proclivities of the one displaying the symbol.

Yeah yeah. "This side of the house is white; I can't tell you what the other sides of the house are." (Heinlein's professional witness)

People draw conclusions all the time. In my world, if you put a message out there, whether it be by wearing it on your body or on your car, you are deliberately sending a message for others to receive. You're advertizing. They're supposed to draw conclusions.

 

[Astronuc]

Certainly people draw conclusions based on conjecture as well as certainty.

The symbol in the OP does bear a resemblance to symbol for ΙΧΘΥΣ. That's as far as it goes.

 

[russ_watters]

Yeah yeah. "This side of the house is white; I can't tell you what the other sides of the house are." (Heinlein's professional witness)

People draw conclusions all the time. In my world, if you put a message out there, whether it be by wearing it on your body or on your car, you are deliberately sending a message for others to receive. You're advertizing. They're supposed to draw conclusions.

I agree. From that bumper plaque, there is only one possible conclusion: the owner is a scuba diver.

Some such plaques are meant to mock religion, some aren't. This one isn't. And a friend of mine owns this company: www.loxfish.com[/URL]

 

[FredGarvin]

Honestly I find it annoying. I don't think the person is mocking the religion but touting it. I fail to see the reasons for advertising like this, where we combine one's faith and a hobby or pastime. A person's faith should be their business alone and really doesn't need to be flaunted on a plaque or bumper sticker. Honestly, I couldn't care less if God or Allah or whoever is your co-pilot. Keep that to yourself. I agree with Dave, I see it totally as advertising.

 

[DaveC426913]

I agree with Dave, I see it totally as advertising.

I was not suggesting that was a bad thing. Maybe it would be better phrased as : this is where I stand and I don't mind if everyone knows it.

 

[DaveC426913]

The Reveal

Thank you for your candid responses.

Not only did I not get the answers I expected, but apparently I have been under a misapprehension about the message for quite some time.

You see, it's on the back of my vehicle. Has been for more'n a year.

I am a scuba diver and I am a Darwinist.

Up until just the other day, I'd assumed that was obvious to anyone behind me on the road.

 

[Evo]

Thank you for your candid responses.

Not only did I not get the answers I expected, but apparently I have been under a misapprehension about the message for quite some time.

You see, it's on the back of my vehicle. Has been for more'n a year.

I am a scuba diver and I am a Darwinist.

Up until just the other day, I'd assumed that was obvious to anyone behind me on the road.

Just don't let Fred get behind you.

 

[Cyrus]

Hey, at least its not a confederate flag DaveC.

 

[Astronuc]

Thank you for your candid responses.

Not only did I not get the answers I expected, but apparently I have been under a misapprehension about the message for quite some time.

You see, it's on the back of my vehicle. Has been for more'n a year.

I am a scuba diver and I am a Darwinist.

Up until just the other day, I'd assumed that was obvious to anyone behind me on the road.

People have different experiences and therefore different contexts.

Some people may see a resemblance to a religious symbol and think either that one is religious as well as a scuba diver, or one finds scuba diving as meaningful as one's religion, while other's may think one is mocking a particular religion, and still others may just see that one is passionate about scuba diving without any religious connotation whatsoever.

 

[Kurdt]

Rarrrghhh!

http://www.churchhopping.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/02/fsm.jpg

:rofl: I like that one. A little more obvious.

 

[out of whack]

People have different experiences and therefore different contexts.

Indeed. The problem with any message is the darned receivers, they never get it right! One of my teachers used to say: "I know what I teach but I don't know what they learn."

 

[Moonbear]

I think part of it is that any meaning of the fish has been diluted by the proliferation of these variants of it. It was pretty clear when the only two you'd see on cars were the original fish that symbolized religion (though, to me it's usually more a warning of a slow driver...the two seem to go hand in hand for some reason), and the one with Darwin in it or feet on it that was mocking the religion and Creationist beliefs. But, now I see all sorts of variations that make it impossible for me to know what someone is intending, or if they intend anything at all...I see more of the "joke" fish than the real ones, so it's hard to know if anyone displaying those has a clue how those originated. I really think it has become more of a fad than anything else now.

One that I saw that left me entirely unsure of the interpretation was a car that had a big fish with a trail of little fish behind it. Was that someone who was very religious with a large family diplaying little fish to represent each of their children (this was on a minivan), or was it someone who was joking about those fish symbols and trying to be funny?

Or, there was one that was a fish dangling from a fishing line...avid fisherman, or anti-religious, or both? It's impossible to tell anymore.

 

[DaveC426913]

I sort of figure anyone who puts a variation of the Jesus fish on their car is more or less mocking it.