> When the original fish symbol got popular, I thought it was kind of neat, but didn't feel any compulsion to run out and buy one and affix it to my car to advertise my Jesusness.

[snip]

> I don't dispute that religious truth is worth battling over, but there are better arenas.

While there are bigger battles, these cosmetic battles are definitely nothing new. When i got to tour sites of the the Byzantine empire in Turkey of few years back, we got to see Aphrodisius, "home court" to the worship of Aphrodite, or Diana (as well as perhaps the largest producer of decorative sarcofigases (sp?) of its day, though that has nothing to do with our story). When the Christians gained power, instead of destroying the temple of Aphrodite and building a church, they kept the building and just desecrated its art by scratching through all the signs and wrecking the statues and proceeded to use it for their own religious purposes.

Alas, silliness is far from an anomale in the historical practice of religion.

Penny *kinda partial to the Chi Rho symbol, instead of the Ichtus, but it's just my goofy personal preference* stamp

Did you know ...

... that the typical architectural designs for mosques draws from the Byzantine, or Eastern Roman, church? Check out Hagia Sophia, or the Church of Holy Wisdom, in Istanbul, formerly used as church and as mosque (obviously, at different times in history) and now a museum. Beautiful place.