[Mb-civic] FW: [Politech] Religious leaders warn of Apple Computer's "Satanic" daemon, Darwin ties

[George R. Milman]

[Let's hope this is a joke! --Declan]

DENVER, Co. -- Apple Computer is facing criticism over its Macintosh 
computers from an unusual source: religious conservatives.

They're upset about products from the Cupertino, Calif.-based computer 
maker being associated with a logo of a two-horned red devil.

"That suggests Satan to me, and I don't think I'm alone," James Dobson, 
chairman of Focus on the Family, said during an interview on Fox News 
Channel on Thursday evening. "Apple needs to realize this is offensive 
to God-fearing Christians or face a boycott."

Apple's OS X computers are based on software called "FreeBSD," which has 
chosen a pitchfork-wielding devil as its logo and mascot. FreeBSD is 
published by the FreeBSD Foundation in Boulder.

Dobson said he and other religious leaders had become aware of the devil 
imagery as a result of Apple's expected release of its new Tiger 
version. "No respectable American company should want to ally itself 
with the Lord of Darkness or make light of him," he said.

Another reason why Christians may want to choose Microsoft products is 
that Apple computers are based on the "Darwin" code, Dobson warned. "If 
  you ask me, Steve Jobs should rename it 'Paley' to avoid further 
confrontation with our community," he said.

William Paley is the early-19th century English theologian who advanced 
the theory of intelligent design, basically that some facets of nature 
were so complex that they could have been created only by God. Charles 
Darwin is known for his theory of evolution.

Apple released a statement late Thursday that said: "Jokes about daemons 
and wizards and the Berkeley Unix mascot have a long history in the 
computer world. We mean no disrespect toward Christians and will work 
with the FreeBSD Foundation toward finding a more appropriate symbol for 
our products. We thank the Rev. Dobson for bringing this to our attention."

The FreeBSD Foundation did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Discovery Institute, a Seattle-based think tank that opposes the 
teaching of evolution, wrote a letter to Apple last week raising 
questions about the use of the name "Darwin" in the OS X code. The think 
tank is sponsoring a lecture in Seattle next week titled: "From Darwin 
To Hitler: Does Darwinism Devalue Human Life?"

Related sites:

http://developer.apple.com/darwin/
http://www.freebsd.org/
http://www.discovery.org/
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