Comments

  3. amph says

    I like the Darwin fish/ Coelacanth, but I don’t like “In Darwin We Trust”. There is a difference between religion and science, you know. They’ll start again about the deification of Darwin.
    I recognize that “we have the fossils” is a better sound bite than “we have the DNA data”, which nobody would understand. In a discussion I prefer bringing up DNA sequences and mutations though.

  4. Steve LaBonne says

    I actually don’t like any of the various stickers / fish / what have you from various sources that carry the name “Darwin”, for precisely amph’s reason. It’s bound to be misunderstood by the religious “mind”.

    Agree also on the molecular point- the focus on fossils in popularizing discussions is outdated and tiresome. Not that they’re not still very important, but they’re only one piece of a much larger puzzle.

  5. quork says

    In a discussion I prefer bringing up DNA sequences and mutations though.

    I like to point out phylogenetic trees drawn from fossils agree remarkably well with trees drawn from DNA data, thus providing independent confirmation from a completely independent line of inquiry.

  6. says

    You’re quite right about the Darwin worship — I don’t care to substitute Chuck for Jesus.

    The thing about fossils is that they’re easy for an unscientifically trained audience to grasp. It’s a first step. I’ve got one talk I give where I show both an example of a fossil sequence and a molecular sequence to balance the two ideas…guess which one all the questions are about?

  7. Steve LaBonne says

    guess which one all the questions are about?

    Conceded, but there’s a circular component to that argument, since that’s likely all they’ve been exposed to in the past.

  9. amph says

    Yes,of course fossils are things that look like real animals (preferably with lots of sharp teeth), so they appeal more to one’s imagination. But isn’t that ‘unscientifically trained audience’ also more sensitive for ‘arguments’ about missing links and stories about fake fossils? Of course,as quork says,the fact that both methods (plus arguments from embryology) are in total agreement should decide the argument. In a reasonable world, that is.

  10. Cranky ol' Geezer says

    You know, you’re perfectly capable of making your own scientifically complete bumper stickers, if you don’t like the above offerings.

    Nah, easier to just lecture Dr. Myers about what is the strongest evidence for evolution. Never mind.

  11. Steve LaBonne says

    Who’s lecturing PZ? Certainly not I, since from his description I think he’s doing it exactly right.

  12. Millimeter Wave says

    Many of those look good (I particularly like “May the fetus you save be gay”), but I like the paintwork on my car a little too much, and I wouldn’t expect it to survive intact very long if I was displaying any of those…

  13. valhar2000 says

    I think that the family values one is the best of them all, among other things becuase I confidently expect those to be my family values if I ever should have one.

  16. says

    valhar2000 – I hate that shirt. Probably I’m too old to get it, but “bitches” is in no way cute or funny to me. People who wear that shirt put my teeth on edge… And I like science! Just thought you might like to know it can be counterproductive.

  19. stogoe says

    ‘Science – It Works, Bitches’ is even cooler when they remember to include the graph.

    I have to plug the webcomic xkcd for bringing us S-IWB, as well as raptorphobia and the ballpen-treehouse combo.

  20. says

    but I like the paintwork on my car a little too much, and I wouldn’t expect it to survive intact very long if I was displaying any of those…

    Yea, I’ve remarked before that you never seem to see a Darwin Fish on a new Lexus – only on older cars with an already dinged paint job.

  23. notthedroids says

    “Yea, I’ve remarked before that you never seem to see a Darwin Fish on a new Lexus – only on older cars with an already dinged paint job.”

    Depends on where you live. When I lived in Los Angeles, saw Darwin fish on a host of cars, and it seemed more like a cute thing. Now that I live in Birmingham AL, it is much more of a political statement.

  25. Jen says

    Love the bumper stickers, hate putting anything sticky on my car. I’ll probably opt for the magnets. Besides, you can change them out periodically or use them as fridge magnets. My personal fav is one I didn’t see on this site – it says “I’ve found Jesus – he was behind the couch the whole time!”

  28. Jake says

    Caladus,

    You obviously don’t live in the Bible Belt, or the South for that matter.

    BTW – “Jesus had two daddies” is hands down the best one.

  33. Steve LaBonne says

    I’m just vain enough to be rather fond of my Project Steve T-shirt, considering that my name is there in the fine print someplace. ;)

  35. JLem says

    I saw one the other day that I thought was pretty brilliant – something like:

    “Jesus was my copilot, but we crashed into a mountain and I had to eat him”

  37. Azkyroth says

    How about “Jesus is coming! (Pass the kleenex)” I should figure out what I need to do to make these…

  40. says

    You obviously don’t live in the Bible Belt, or the South for that matter.

    I used to live in the South, and I live in California’s Bible Belt now. What I’m saying is that Christians wouldn’t think twice about putting a Jesus fish on their car, be it a new Lexus or a used Pinto. They’re not worried about being keyed, or having their fish ripped off and broken in half – unlike nonbelievers who do have that worry.

    If I were to turn this into a hypothesis, I’d say that a nonbeliever who owns two vehicles will advertise his or her nonbelief on the less valued vehicle.

    After having two Darwin fish ripped off of my bumper here, I’m personally not tempted to put one on my next new car.

  43. Craig O. says

    I saw one the other day that I thought was pretty brilliant – something like:

    “Jesus was my copilot, but we crashed into a mountain and I had to eat him”

    I’ve always wanted one that says something to the effect:

    “Jesus may be your copilot, but keep your hands on the wheel anyway.”

  44. says

    ???? Where would that be, if you don’t mind sharing?

    Fresno. Bright red on a red/blue map of California.

    Alan Autry (Bubba Skinner from “Heat of the Night”) is our born-again Christian Mayor who had a heterosexual-only religious Marriage Commitment Day event on the steps of City Hall back in 2004.

    We’ve had both Billy Graham and Promise Keepers hold sold-out events at the stadium at California State University, Fresno. (I remember the Billy Graham event vividly – I was studying for a test at the student center on campus. When the event let out a lot of hyped and rowdy young Christians pounded on the student center glass wall as they cut across campus to their cars. Sharing the ‘good news’ with us study nerds I guess.)

    We had over 5,000 people attend a Christian Restoration movement event in April of last year at our local (brand new) sports arena. We seem to be getting more of that sort of event. And no wonder, we have 8 megachurches in the area – 6 with over 2,000 members, and one with close to 5,000 members.

    The “Free Republic” website creators live in Fresno, and organize Freeper demonstrations at a major intersection here every now and then.

    It’s not all bad. We have a large Hmong refugee population that was resettled into Fresno after Vietnam, and we have an active LGBT community – so there is some diversity, at least in the ‘bad’ side of town. The ‘good’ side of town is predominantly white. /sarcasm

  45. octopod says

    Sigh. Too true. (parents are from Fresno)

    My ten-year-old brother’s been calling himself an atheist since he was six, which is when his friend (same age) across the street told him he should be Christian ’cause otherwise he’d go to hell. Brother came home, extracted some information and (grudgingly) opinions from me, and decided he didn’t want to associate himself with that.

    :-( They sure make ’em choose sides early in Fresno, don’t they?

  46. Ellen says

    I am not a big fan of bumper stickers, but saw one the other day that I may have to have:

    1.20.09

    When 41 left office, a group of pranksters hired moving vans to circle the White House, and I swear I heard a chorus of hallelujahs all over the greater DC area.

    When 43 goes…well, let’s just say that it will be as close to a religious experience as I’ll ever have. Sometimes being an atheist is a handicap.

  51. says

    One of my favourites is a line from the bible: basically, “you shall have the same law for the citizen and for the stranger.”

  52. says

    “We have the fossils. We win.” seems uncomfortably smug to me. Kind of an us-vs-them mentality which, in many but not all circumstances, is counterproductive. I like the double meaning of “keep your theology off my biology”, and I like “the rapture is not an exit strategy”.

    I see The Ridger’s point; indeed, the “it works, bitches” bit (better with the COBE graph) works great as a comic, but not quite so well as a shirt, because who knows if it’ll be taken as tongue-in-cheek as it was written? I really like this xkcd comic (“the universe doesn’t care what you believe; the wonderful thing about science is that it doesn’t ask for your faith, it just asks for your eyes”), but I don’t know how you could make it t-shirt short.

  53. Paguroidea says

    I saw a nifty button the other day – If I had been the Virgin Mary, I would have said “NO!”.

  54. JohnnieCanuck says

    Jesus isn’t the only one with two fathers. Every Christian claims God as his Father (Our Father who art in Heaven…).

    What Jesus is, is God the Son. That makes Him His own Father. Thus I submit:

    Jesus Fathered Himself

    Which brings up the question:

    Is God a Virgin, too?

  55. Greco says

    Awwww… viva la evolución can’t be that hard to spell…

    I think it is worse: apparently they mixed French (vive la évolution) and Spanish (viva la evolución).