Old blog

The weather is awesome - today we got up to 22 C (that's 72 F, for those that are so inclined).

How can you tell it's spring in Montreal? People are wearing t-shirts, some are wearing shorts, most are imbibing something on a hastily-assembled sidewalk terrasse, and there are ridiculous line-ups at every carwash in town.

I got my car washed.

It's silver again! I can see through all the windows! The mirrors actually reflect!

Obviously, it's an annoyingly Canadian trait to discuss the weather ad nauseam (although, thanks to global warming, we are not alone in our little meteorological obsession). But that's not really my point. My point is this - because I got my car washed, my Darwin fish is all shiny and glittery.

Now, I made a conscious decision, after a lot of thought, to affix said fish to my car. For me, the Darwin fish is not, as some people assume, a symbol of atheism. In fact, I believe that science and religion are not mutually exclusive, and it was my rancour over the whole 'Intelligent Design' debate that prompted my fishy statement to begin with. I believe, and I think Darwin himself might agree, that such a phenomenally impressive process as evolution could be used as proof of a 'designer'/'creator'/whathaveyou. I mean, if I stop to think about the sheer number of pure coincidences required for life on this planet to be what it is, I have to wonder whether or not there is something more to it.

In short, I would not be at all surprised to discover that there is some thing - being, entity, astral plane, or unimaginable thing - so far beyond our current comprehension that the various religions we've built are but the first paragraph of Chapter One of a multi-volume work, if you get my metaphor.

The point is, my Darwin fish is more about my beliefs as a teacher than as a defender of (non)religion.

The point is, my Darwin fish does not, for me, represent atheism.

The point is, my Darwin fish is all shiny and freshly washed and, therefore, very noticeable.

The point is, when I was stuck in traffic this afternoon and glanced up into the rearview mirror and saw a priest and a nun in the car directly behind me, I really wanted to get out of the car and say all of this to them.