Sent in to Declan McCullagh's Politech list:

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?"

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Anyone should have predicted this -- that symbol of the Apple with the bite out of it has been around since 1982, right? And after all, all red critters are Satanic and everyone knows that Darwin while posing as a scientist was a degraded Satanic pervert of some kind, am I right?

May all the powers preserve us from this kind of extremist madness.

A