GATLING@SUVM (Keith E Gatling) (01/15/90)
Time to get long winded again ;-).
First of all, Bill, you drew it wrong. What you drew was a circle divided
into thirds. The peace symbol that I remember looked like the following:
.......
. . .
. . .
. . .
. . .
. ... .
. . . . .
. . . . .
.. . ..
.......
The continuation of the middle line all the way to the bottom is very im-
portant, because without it, the two explanations which I have heard of it
would make absolutely no sense.
The first and simplest explanation is that it is a stylized dove's foot.
Since doves are a symbol of peace, it makes sense to use a stylized dove's
foot as a peace symbol.
The second, and a little more intricate (not to mention also being a
terrible pun) is that the three lines inside the circle represent a bomber
(aircraft type) or a missile...in short, a bomb. The circle is a band.
Can you see the pun coming up...band the bomb...or rather "ban the bomb"?
Frankly, I tend to worry when every symbol we come across in everyday life
is looked at as having some other possible evil meaning, which was totally
unknown to us and had no effect on us before. I've mentioned previously
the incident with Proctor and Gamble, and now as I sit here in front of my
Macintosh, I wonder how long it will be before someone decides that the
Apple logo consisting of a bitten apple with all but one color of the rain-
bow in it is an evil sign.
I can just see it, the bitten apple represents our first sin by Adam's
eating the *unnamed* fruit from the forbidden tree, while the colors of the
rainbow are a symbol of whatever portion of the New Age movement has made
us paranoid about anything having to do with the sign of God's promise not
to destroy the earth again by flood.
You know, maybe we're spending too much time looking for signs of evil
and not enough time doing works of love.
keg