The Washington State Democratic Party stepped in - badly - last week by offering a product for sale on their official web site: the Hypocrite Fish. Once the item garnered attention late last week by a Seattle radio talk show (which criticized the item as anti-Christian), it was pulled from the site. Demands from the public (and the state's Republican Party) for the Democratic Party to issue an apology, or some sort of statement about why they offered the item in the first place, have been met with silence.
I am convinced, however, that the Hypocrite Fish is not an exclusive "product" of the Washington State Democratic Party - a little bit of poking around on the World Wide Web on my part has uncovered a web site that not only offers the Hypocrite Fish, but many other items that are equally hurtful to the majority of the people of the state and the nation. The site also offers items for sale that are very anti-war, anti-Administration, and particularly anti-Bush. The majority of the merchandise for sale contains vulgar language, and would not be suitable for display in public, short of a heated protest rally against President Bush and his Administration.
Here's the link: http://evolvefish.com/index.html
I have no idea if this is the web site that the state Democratic Party obtained inspiration to offer the Hypocrite Fish for sale through their site, but I'm of the opinion that the Dems stepped in it (badly) by trying to cater to the farthest-left-leaning, angry, hateful members of society, rather than sticking to items that promote the Washington State Democratic Party and it's policy views.
I'm not accusing the state Democratic Party of "guilt by association", but they offered (albeit for a short time) an item that is currently offered by a site that sells many items less-than-poor taste. The Democrats should have issued an apology as soon as the item was pulled from the Party web site. So far, no apology, and with the exception of one Seattle-area radio talk show, this has not garnered any media attention. It's almost as if the Democratic Party is, once again, banking on a combination of voter apathy and a collective short-term memory problem by the citizens of the state.
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Democratic Party Chairman Paul Berendt has issued a "partial" apology to the "hyprocrite fish"...
State Democratic Party Chairman Paul Berendt has apologized for a political ornament that parodied a popular Christian car decoration. The fish-shaped magnet on sale on the Democratic Party's Web site bore the image of a cross and the word ``hypocrite'' over a background of flames. Berendt says it was removed within 48 hours and none were sold. He apologizes for offending anyone although he's not certain what it means. He says he thinks it was aimed at ``people who claim to be pro-life but are for the death penalty.''
This morning, I interviewed Rep. Doug Ericksen, the Republican Floor Leader in the House of Representatives, who appeared this week on the same Seattle talk show that "broke" this story, and has demanded an apology from the Democratic Party on behelf of those who considered the item in question "anti-Christian". During my interview with Rep. Ericksen, he said Berendt's apology was a "blanket" apology, and didn't specifically address the concerns of the Christian voting populace. Ericksen said he's still waiting for the Democrats to apologize to the specific group of voters who were offended by the "hypocrite fish", and he said that, to his knowledge, noone from the Democratic Party has made public any attempt to discipline whoever posted the item on the Party's official website.
Something to note - the material that is included with the "hypocrite fish" contains messages that are indicative to the hard-left: satiric anti-war, anti-Bush, anti-Christian quips. Out of the dozen-plus messages that surround the "hypocrite fish", only one alludes to pro-life/anti-death penalty issue that Berendt says is the reason he thinks the item was on sale in the first place.
Interesting post. I agree it was tasteless of the Washington Democrats to post that for sale – especially considering that most of their members are Christians. I think the emblem itself is symptomatic of the frustration that non-Christians and mainstream Christians alike feel about the very vocal fundamentalist Christan minority who, quite frankly, act completely unchristian. I think the mainstream Christians would do well to find a way to say “these fundamentalists do not speak for us” on a regular basis; many people think that the fundamentalists speak for all Christians. I don't know how to address this issue.
The evolvefish site itself has some inflammatory stuff that can be seen as funny if you choose to view it that way. My wife loves the actual “evolve” fish with the arm and wrench. The site has one emblem that I find topical and non-inflammatory: Dissent is Patriotic.
I think those critical of the evangelical right, including most Christians, need to find a better way to criticize them without criticizing the mainstream Christians. Mainstream Christians need to speak up about their radical fundamentalist counterparts.
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