It may seem odd at first, but the 17 minute film Fitna puts Jonah Goldberg in mind of the "Jesus fish" commonly seen attached to cars and jewelry. More precisely, it puts him in mind of those who seek to deride Christianity by sporting a "Darwin" fish, a fish symbol with four tiny legs and the name Darwin supplanting Jesus.
Given the history of how early Christians used the fish symbol (The letters for the Greek word fish form an acronym for the Greek words Jesus Christ Son of God, Savior) as a sort of password or silent identity badge and who often paid for their conviction by dying horrible, brutal deaths, the Darwinist knock-off is more fatuous than clever, but that's often the case with those who mock Christianity. Most of the people who amuse themselves by laughing at a symbol of Christian suffering would not dare mock the Star of David or some symbol of Islam, and this is Goldberg's point.
He puts it this way in his concluding sentences:
It's not that secular progressives support Muslim religious fanatics, it's that they reserve their passion and scorn for religious Christians who are neither fanatical nor violent.
The Darwin fish ostensibly symbolizes the superiority of progressive-minded science over backward-looking faith. I think this is a false juxtaposition, but I would have a lot more respect for the folks who believe it if they aimed their brave contempt for religion at those who might behead them for it.
Read the whole thing. It's pretty good.
RLC
