Fishers of Men, Indeed

In case you missed it while some other things were going on in the world, once again the religious right is having a fit over something that ultimately ranks pretty low on the list of things that matter.

From the Dakota Voice -

The Christian fish symbol is an ancient and sacred symbol for the persecuted Christians in the 1st century, as well as contemporary believers in Christ. But that symbol which showed that Christians identified with each other in their obedience to follow Christ is taking on a whole new meaning. The Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles, as one of their ministries, ‘Ministry with Lesbians and Gay Catholics’ decided to make the sacred fish symbol into a rainbow fish symbol pin... The Catholic Church thus teaches: "Basing itself on sacred Scripture, homosexual acts are acts of grave depravity, tradition has always declared that homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered.” (Read More)

Genius! I love this story. There are so many things that are excellent about it, allow me to take you on a tour:

1. Jesus rebels against staid, corrupt and sinful religious authorities; promotes inclusive, progressive faith that encourages debate and dissent.
2. Christians are persecuted for deviating from the acceptable status quo and they adopt/co-opt a symbol from the Greeks and use it to identify one another in a hostile environment.
3. Gays at the time, enjoying a permissive society.

Fast-forward 2000 years...

1. Evangelical Christians support a staid, corrupt and sinful religious authority.
2. Gays are persecuted for deviating from the acceptable status quo and they adopt/co-opt a symbol from the Christians and use it to identify one another in a hostile environment.
3. Evangelical Christians, meanwhile, are enjoying a far too permissive society.

What is it with the Catholic church and copyright infringement? "That's our fish, you can't use it, and marriage is our word, you can't change what it means!" But I digress...

The many ironic reversals aren't the only part that's excellent, however. The particular fish imagery they're fighting over, the one that was adopted from the Greeks, was known as the Vesica Pisces and was a powerful pagan image representing the Goddess Aphrodite and particularly her genitalia.

Yup. That's right. The evangelicals are upset that the gays are co-opting their pagan vagina imagery. This stuff almost writes itself.

And is there anything better than gay Christians reminding their co-religionists of what it means to be an old-school Christian? The fish symbol is once again the symbol of a persecuted minority struggling to achieve an equal opportunity to practice their faith and live their lives as they best see fit.

You'd think Christians would appreciate the irony, but apparently not so much...