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PZ Myers is a biologist and associate professor at the University of Minnesota, Morris.
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Fred Hoyle is a distinguished astronomer, as you pointed out. When he speaks about biological phenomena, I would not say that he speaks ex cathedra. As a matter of fact, one of the statements that Fred Hoyle made with Chandra Wickramasinghe is that actually insects are smarter than we think they are, but they're just not letting us know.
Eugene Scott in "Resolved: That evolutionists should acknowledge creation" Firing Line, 4 December 1997, p. 42.
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Category: Weirdness
Posted on: September 10, 2009 12:31 PM, by PZ Myers
Someone needs to start an organization with this name just so they can use this logo that I got from Glynn Lane:
Students could join, and then they could all run out and get these t-shirts:
Unfortunately, there's pretty much nothing we could do to be even creepier than that other, better known Campus Crusade for some guy.
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Comments
Posted by: Glen Davidson | September 10, 2009 12:45 PM
Competing crusades.
Well I'm sure that Crowther et al. will welcome it, since they just love it when the controversy is taught.
And seeing as how Cthulhu is at least as well established by the evidence as ID is, it's a cinch...
Glen D
http://tinyurl.com/mxaa3p
Posted by: octopod | September 10, 2009 12:46 PM
Ha! We have one at Caltech already. Although for the past few years, it's been...er...sleeping.
Our logo was never that good though. Maybe it'll revive interest?
Posted by: Martin | September 10, 2009 12:52 PM
Actually I thought Campus Crusade for Cthulhu was already a done deal. Are they not the group with the bumper stickers that say It Found Me?
Posted by: Gregg | September 10, 2009 12:54 PM
I was a member of the chapter at Miskatonic U. back in my college days. Interesting group, their motto was "One Small Sacrifice For Wisdom."
Posted by: MaxH | September 10, 2009 12:56 PM
"there's pretty much nothing we could do to be even creepier"
Oh, PZ, you underestimate this group! We'll think of something. :)
Posted by: steve | September 10, 2009 12:56 PM
Many years ago on a Texas diving trip (Flower Gardens coral reef in the Gulf of Mexico) I came across literature for "Christian Cowboys for Jesus".
I think "Chthonic Cowboys for Cthulhu" works better on so many fronts, starting with the alliteration.
Posted by: JVW | September 10, 2009 12:58 PM
I remember a t-shirt with this slogan on it when I was in college in 1991 or 1992! Loved it then, love it now.
Posted by: The Swede | September 10, 2009 1:02 PM
It's "Iä!", and nothing else. Such sacrilege must be punished! The offenders will be eaten last!
Posted by: HumanisticJones | September 10, 2009 1:04 PM
Change the "Ai!" to "Iä!" slap it on a shirt and I'll offer up my ill-spawned fishman first born to get one.
Posted by: Charles | September 10, 2009 1:05 PM
This is old. I was a member of the Rice chapter back in the late 80s. My shirt glowed in the dark. I wish now that I still had it.
Posted by: JD | September 10, 2009 1:10 PM
This squidophilia is getting out of hand. I will pray for you PZ.
Posted by: Jim Harrison | September 10, 2009 1:11 PM
While we're on the subject, what is the proper pronunciation of Cthulhu? Thew-Loo? I've wondered for years.
Posted by: TheVirginian | September 10, 2009 1:14 PM
Yes, it's been around for a while. I have a CCC - It FOund Me bumper sticker from the early 1990s. The item I regret I let slip away was a T-shirt that said, "Misktaonic U School of Culinary Arts - Serving Humanity Since 1794." I guess they serve the Jesus Fish as an appetizer.
Posted by: Sengkelat | September 10, 2009 1:18 PM
Cthulhu is pronounced kuh THOOL hoo, though some also say kuh TOOL hoo, or kuh THOO loo. I'm asked the pronunciation every time I use my credit card at a store that has a "thank-by-name" policy.
And it's rather appalling that the logo says "Ai" rather than Ia. Ia Ia Cthulhu Fhtagn!
Posted by: llewelly | September 10, 2009 1:20 PM
Uh ... this seems nearly identical to an early 1990s Chaosium marketing campaign for their great RPG, Call of Cthulhu.
Posted by: Mandrake | September 10, 2009 1:24 PM
I've always wondered what the Greek writing means on the Jesus fish (and what the fish symbolizes). Can anyone help?
Posted by: abb3w
|
September 10, 2009 1:25 PM
MIT branch...
Posted by: Matt Heath | September 10, 2009 1:30 PM
OT but P. Diddy has declared Twitter based holy war on fans of "Supernatural" http://twitter.com/iamdiddy
It's the funniest thing since teabaggers.
Posted by: magista | September 10, 2009 1:34 PM
Mandrake, Wikipedia knows all...
Posted by: Marcus Ranum | September 10, 2009 1:36 PM
While we're on the subject, what is the proper pronunciation of Cthulhu? Thew-Loo? I've wondered for years.
It's pronounced like of like YHWH if it was being said by a cat throwing up a hairball.
Posted by: Scott DeLancey | September 10, 2009 1:38 PM
"start" an organization with this name? Man, the Crusade has been around since I was in college -- and I'm older than you!
Those would be extremely cool shirts, however.
Posted by: Alpinist | September 10, 2009 1:40 PM
HA! That was fast. Last night someone at Reddit asked for ideas for shirt designs. I gave them "Cthulhu eating a Jesus fish". She drew it a few hours later and I sent it along to PZ this morning. I wasn't expecting it on Pharyngula, at least not this soon!
So, like, that's half my shirt, sorta...
And I don't know if it's correct, but I pronounce it "kuh-thoo-loo".
Posted by: Irenicus | September 10, 2009 1:41 PM
PZ played Dungeons and Dragons, didn't he? Did he ever encounter mind-flayers?
Posted by: Mike Wagner | September 10, 2009 1:42 PM
Maybe we do need more Cthulhu and FSM groups working their magic out there. I just discovered that there's a Christian user group on the iphone gaming site I frequent. I have no idea what purpose that serves other than to say "Look, we're Christians, and we like to go to non-religious sites and pump each other up about it!"
Posted by: Clemens | September 10, 2009 1:45 PM
That greek stuff is the greek work for fish, something like ichtyos or so, meaning Iesus Christos, Theo..blargh, and would translate to Jesus Christ, Son of God, Saviour.
Posted by: Shadow
|
September 10, 2009 1:47 PM
I still have my CCC button I had in college. It was alway great fun to show up with fiends at one of the OTHER CCC events. Many the time someone from the other groups would start up with "Campus Crusade for Chr...What the hell is Cthulu?"
I love the sound eyeballs make when they roll up inside the head before the asplosion.
Posted by: Beth B. | September 10, 2009 1:50 PM
I was totally a member of U. of South Carolina's facebook chapter. Our limited impact on campus has since been dwarfed by that of the Pastafarians. Bah! They and their precious spaghetti will be eaten last.
Posted by: nemryn | September 10, 2009 1:53 PM
Pronouncing 'Cthulhu' is easy! All you need is three larynxes, and a basic knowledge of irreal phonemes.
Posted by: Mandrake | September 10, 2009 1:54 PM
Magista@19, thanks. That article is quite interesting. So the symbol was possibly previously used to represent goddesses.
Posted by: Gruesome Rob | September 10, 2009 1:55 PM
Maybe that shirt should be redone with a side of spaghetti too...
Posted by: Mandrake | September 10, 2009 2:00 PM
Posted by: Lykeros | September 10, 2009 2:03 PM
DAMN YOU, PZ!
We are in the process of renaming our student organization. We have been thinking up cool names and acronyms for the past day.
And here you are, tempting us!
We are so tempted to do this, just to be awesome. But... we do had planned on making a name that is slightly more serious.
Decisions, decisions...
Posted by: Mandrake | September 10, 2009 2:04 PM
@31 Doh! Stupid blockquoting! (I know--user error.)
Posted by: Tulse | September 10, 2009 2:28 PM
As was I, although it would have been the early '80s for me.
And I think I still have the T-shirt (although I don't know if I could still fit in it).
Posted by: Jaycubed | September 10, 2009 2:29 PM
I have had a
CAMPUS CRUSADE FOR CTHULU . . . IT FOUND ME!
Bumpersticker for at least 15 years.
Posted by: Thomas R. Holtz, Jr. | September 10, 2009 2:32 PM
Jaycubed @#35:
That bumper sticker/button/T-shirt logo goes back at least to the mid-1980s.
Posted by: Thomas R. Holtz, Jr. | September 10, 2009 2:34 PM
Also, there is no way that the single human 3-dimensional mouth is likely to pronounce the name properly...
Posted by: arensb | September 10, 2009 2:46 PM
"Campus Crusade for Cthulhu: if your god's dead, blame mine."
Posted by: David Marjanović, OM | September 10, 2009 2:49 PM
"campus crusade for cthulhu" gives 4520 ghits. The 6th is a Myspace group, the 7th a Facebook group…
Regarding pronunciation, I just say [ˈkθuɬu]. That looks sort of logical from the spelling (…and is no more exotic than Klingon, frankly). Don't aspirate the [k] too much… oh, er, [ɬ] is this thing.
Posted by: Polyester Mather DD | September 10, 2009 3:09 PM
Fie on Marcus Ranum's vain invocation of the Tetragrammaton
Kitteh cannot pronounce The Ancient One's name.
It sounds more like a small god being devoured whilst throwing up a giant squid.
Posted by: Draken | September 10, 2009 3:12 PM
@Mandrake, #16: The most interesting explanation I've ever heard for the Jesus Fish is that, when turned 90 degrees, it suspiciously resembles a Yoni, ayurvedic(?) symbol of the vagina and the Goddess.
I can't find any proof of this, but the idea makes me smile every time I see one on a car.
Posted by: Traveler | September 10, 2009 3:22 PM
It's bad enough that there are people running around claiming that you need to eat their god. I'm certainly not joining a group where the god eats me.
Posted by: Mike Wagner | September 10, 2009 3:25 PM
Traveler,
But what if he eats the god-eaters first? Wouldn't you have some slight satisfaction being one of the last to enter his awe-inspiring intestines of Doom?
Posted by: randy | September 10, 2009 3:34 PM
> what is the proper pronunciation of
> Cthulhu? Thew-Loo? I've wondered for
> years.
According to Lovecraft, the human vocal apparatus can only approximate the syllables of this alien language. Long after Lovecraft's death, the pronunciation kə-THOO-loo (IPA: /kəˈθuːluː/) became common, and the game Call of Cthulhu endorsed it. (wiki)
Posted by: Jim Ernst | September 10, 2009 3:50 PM
Back in the 80's, our CCC shirts had the tag line:
Cthulhu saves...
In case he's hungry later.
Posted by: JRD | September 10, 2009 4:06 PM
PLEASE make that into a t-shirt!
Posted by: DLC | September 10, 2009 4:19 PM
and come election time, rememeber : Vote Cthulhu, why settle for a lesser evil!
Posted by: PrimalCurve | September 10, 2009 4:32 PM
Ah, I knew I'd make an error and someone would catch it. Here's the updated version.
http://www.entropicalisle.com/gallery/d/2987-1/Campus+Crusade+for+Cthulhu.png
Yes, this is the creator of the CCC logo. Yes, I know this has been done before. However, I hadn't seen someone make a parody of the Campus Crusade for Jesus Fucking Christ logo.
As for t-shirts, I'd definitely like to do that, but I've had parody logo designs rejected by shirt companies before. Any suggestions?
Posted by: Mandrake | September 10, 2009 4:35 PM
@Draken, #41: There are plenty of those car fishies here in the DC metro area, so now I'm going to be doing a lot of smiling.
Posted by: PrimalCurve | September 10, 2009 4:47 PM
Scratch that. I found a site that seems to have taken the design and they don't seem as draconian as CafePress. Feel free to order:
http://skreened.com/primalcurve/campus-crusade-for-cthulhu
Posted by: Kevin_In_Philadelphia | September 10, 2009 4:55 PM
Anybody know where I can get a Cthulhu driver head cover? I feel like that would be a great novelty item for the golf course.
Posted by: CornerKicked | September 10, 2009 5:03 PM
Did you know that Satan and Cthulhu are room mates? It's true!
Posted by: ChrisG | September 10, 2009 5:19 PM
@Matt Heath
Evidently, twitter has caved, and removed both #luciferiscoming and #godishere from the trending topics. At least they believe in equal oppurtunity censorship. Disapointing, and will lead to conspiracy theories in future.
Posted by: seabhag | September 10, 2009 5:22 PM
I think there's a Munchkin Cthulhu card with "Campus Crusade for Cthulhu" as one of the monsters. :-)
Posted by: MadScientist | September 10, 2009 5:29 PM
I guess Cthulthu is learning Greek and needs his food labeled?
I think we need a photo of Cthulthu having some Jesus kebab.
Posted by: Dustin | September 10, 2009 5:35 PM
I'm fond of reminding the Campus Crusade for Christ that a similarly named Campus Jihad for Muhammad would draw.... attention... from the government.
Posted by: Alhazrad | September 10, 2009 6:38 PM
The school I attended had an annual activity's midway to find and join student groups.
One year that other campus crusade group was giving out goldfish in little waterfilled bags.
On seeing this, one of our members went to the local convenience store and bought a large container of goldfish crackers. The people manning the booth of the proper crusade proceded to give out and eat them.
Word got back to the people handing out the fish that 'goldfish were being eaten'...
Posted by: Randomfactor | September 10, 2009 6:47 PM
It's bad enough that there are people running around claiming that you need to eat their god. I'm certainly not joining a group where the god eats me.
I understood that the advantage was theat the followers would be eaten *FIRST*.
Something like the Rapture, only a bit more painful.
Posted by: 'Tis Himself, Quel Dommage
|
September 10, 2009 7:14 PM
What part of Ph'nglui Mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn don't you understand?
Posted by: 964pinocchio | September 10, 2009 9:07 PM
Cool deal...'Ai' is Japanese for 'love'...ah to be drifting in the 'C' of love!
Posted by: WMDKitty | September 11, 2009 2:58 AM
IA CTHULHU!
Posted by: Midnight Rambler | September 11, 2009 3:05 AM
"Ai" is Hawaiian for "eat", so it is appropriate in some places.
Posted by: WMDKitty | September 11, 2009 3:09 AM
I need one of those for the back of my wheelchair. Seriously.
Posted by: travc | September 11, 2009 4:18 AM
If I'm not mistaken, Campus Crusade for Cthulhu got started in the '80s as a response to the very annoying bible thumping of Campus Crusade for Christ. I think at Texas A&M, though that is from second hand stories a year of two after the putative 'founding'. Even if it wasn't originally A&M, a Texas origin seems pretty well supported, maybe UT (Austin).
Posted by: MPM | September 11, 2009 9:16 AM
I attended the 232nd annual meeting of the Miskatonic University Alumni Association just this year at Gen Con. Indiana chapter president Dr. Ranji Portajonni oversaw the festivities, awards, and of course, human sacrifice.
Sacrifice...sacrifice...sacrifice...
http://gencon.highprogrammer.com/gencon-indy-2009.cgi/event/ZED0900451
Posted by: cshiley | September 11, 2009 9:51 AM
I was one of the founding members of the MIT branch; the idea came from Berkeley.
I'm also the one who sent for the goldfish crackers... we traded them for CCC's live goldfish and had a whole little shrine going. That was, oh, 10 years ago now, but goldfish return as part of the group's ceremonial tradition, when it does anything at all.
Our traditional plea to the great Cthulhu is: Eat Us Last.
Posted by: apophenia | September 11, 2009 9:52 AM
I remember Campus Crusade for Cthulu shirts from my Texas A&M days in the 80's, where they were prominent during AggieCon and then of course during the Campus Crusade for Christ's big yearly campaign. In fact, that was how I first heard of Cthulu! Awesome then, awesome now.
Posted by: Rolan le Gargéac | September 11, 2009 12:11 PM
'Tis Himself #59
Brilliant !
Much Snortling in the Wabe thanks you !
Posted by: 2Newfs | September 11, 2009 2:28 PM
I once saw (and lusted after) a bumper sticker that read: "Cthulu said it, I believe it, that settles it!"
Back in the 90's I went to a Cthulu prayer breakfast at a Necronomicon in Danvers MA. Will I be punished for breaking my vow to never eat calamari, even though I joined the cause and the fan group on Facebook?!
Posted by: dreadgeekgrrl
|
September 11, 2009 6:14 PM
Many moons ago, I wrote a song during a D&D game in praise of Cthulhu which made it into the Cthulhu Hymnal:
Here are the Cthulhu Blues:
Cthulhu comin' round, meltin' out ma brain
Got no bidness standin' in de rain
Got dem Cthulhu blues, gots to spread de news
Ain't no place to run, no use gettin' yo gun
when you got dem Cthulhu blues.
Deep one came round, took ma woman away
Guess I'll huntin' for her on another day
Got dem Cthulhu blues
Gots to spread the news
This ain't no dream
Guess I'll stand here and scream
With ma Cthulhu blues.
Cheers
Aj
Posted by: drkodos
|
September 15, 2009 1:06 PM
Hey PZ: Our own University of Minnesota has a branch of Campus Crusade for Cthulhu. Yay! I mean, Ia! (http://www.sua.umn.edu/groups/directory/show.php?id=795)