Fish Fight -- Some Offended, Some Amused By Variations Of Christian Symbol

The fish wars keep escalating.

And the competing schools are everywhere: on the information highway, on T-shirts and key rings, and, most prominently, on the road, in bumper stickers and metal emblems glued to cars.

On one side of the battle there's the classic Christian fish that started it all - a sleek design in which two arcs crisscross to form a tail. From it emerged other fish that incorporate a cross or say JESUS inside. Others spell out the Greek word for fish, ichthys, whose letters stand for "Jesus, Christ, God's Son, Savior."

On the other side is a fish with the same shape, except that the word DARWIN fills the inside and the fish has sprouted feet. From that model emerged the EVOLVE fish, which itself has evolved enough to hold a wrench, as well as a spaceship-shaped ALIEN fish and countless others, including gay-pride fish.

Appearing most recently is a big Christian fish, TRUTH, swallowing a smaller DARWIN fish.

Secret symbol becomes public

Some people are bothered by the mutations. Others such as Dr. Robert Pyne, professor of systematic theology at Dallas Theological Seminary, just see them as attempts at humor.

"Eventually, the jokes will get old and it'll die out," he said. "Twenty years from now, Christians will still have their fish."

But it's ironic what has become of the once-secret symbol used by followers of Jesus who were forced to meet in hidden locations, he said.

"One individual would draw one arc in the sand, and the other completed it," Pyne said. "It was a way of identifying each other in times of persecution."

But Christians have made a novelty of the symbol, he said.

"When Christian bookstores sell them like crazy, putting them on key chains and other things, what do you expect?" Pyne said. "After a while that becomes so public that you kind of lose possession of it."

Darwin fish released

Chris Gilman, owner of Global Effects, a special-effects company in North Hollywood, Calif., said he came up with the Darwin fish idea almost 20 years ago.

"There was something on TV about evolution and Christianity, and somebody says, `It kind of bugs me, those little fish on the back of cars,' " Gilman said. "I said, `It's advertising, there's nothing wrong with that. It's not bad. You just have to come up with your own plaque.' And someone says, `You can make one with Darwin on it,' and I said, `Yeah, and put feet on it.' "

In about 1990, after years of hearing people tell him he should make a Darwin fish, Gilman had 10,000 made. The item was trademarked and sold to a friend who runs Evolution Design in Karnes City, Texas.

"My Darwin was not meant to belittle or ridicule a religion," Gilman said. "It's just like saying, `I'm a Republican and you're a Democrat.' It's just different."

In fact, Gilman thinks the Christian fish eating his Darwin fish is funny.

Message called offensive

Gilman said he doesn't understand how Christians, who tout forgiveness, are offended by his fish.

But many Christians are offended.

"We're living in a society that's embracing acceptance and plurality except when you get to the Christian community," said Bryan Pain, who is in his second year at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth. "These people have a message that `we don't accept you.' "

Pyne said the whole thing comes down to people's lack of creativity and demonstrating that by making slight alterations to someone else's. He said he soon expects to see spin-offs of the popular WWJD (What Would Jesus Do?) bracelets. Christians do the same thing by playing off such items as Tommy Hilfiger shirts. The Christian versions say "Tommy Hellfighter."

"I guess if we're going to be doing that sort of thing, we certainly can't be upset about somebody else adding legs to a fish," he said.