Pastafari

The Flying Spaghetti Monster (also known as the Spaghedeity) is the deity of a parody religion[1] called The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster and its system of beliefs, "Pastafarianism".[2] The religion was founded in 2005 by Bobby Henderson to protest the decision by the Kansas State Board of Education to require the teaching of intelligent design as an alternative to biological evolution.

In an open letter sent to the education board, Henderson professes belief in a supernatural creator called the Flying Spaghetti Monster which resembles spaghetti and meatballs.[3] He furthermore calls for the "Pastafarian" theory of creation to be taught in science classrooms.[4]

Due to its recent popularity and media exposure, the Flying Spaghetti Monster is often used by atheists, agnostics (known by Pastafarians as "spagnostics"), and others as a modern version of Russell's teapot[5] and the Invisible Pink Unicorn.

Contents

[hide]

* 1 History and developments

* 2 Beliefs

o 2.1 Pirates and global warming

o 2.2 The Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster

* 3 Polk County, Florida

* 4 The Flying Spaghetti Monster in media

o 4.1 In the news

o 4.2 In literature and fiction

* 5 See also

* 6 References

* 7 External links

[edit] History and developments

The first public exposure of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster (CoFSM) and its eponymous deity can be dated to January 2005, when Bobby Henderson, describing himself as a concerned citizen, sent an open letter regarding the FSM to the Kansas Board of Education. The letter was sent prior to the Kansas evolution hearings as an argument against the teaching of intelligent design in biology classes. Henderson stated that both his theory and intelligent design had equal validity; saying

"I think we can all look forward to the time when these three theories are given equal time in our science classrooms across the country, and eventually the world; One third time for Intelligent Design, one third time for Flying Spaghetti Monsterism, and one third time for logical conjecture based on overwhelming observable evidence."[3]

Henderson explained, "I don't have a problem with religion. What I have a problem with is religion posing as science. If there is a god and he's intelligent, then I would guess he has a sense of humor."[6]

The Board only responded after Henderson posted the letter on his website, gaining significant public interest.[7] Henderson subsequently published the responses[8] he received from board members.

As word of Henderson's challenge to the board spread, the website and Henderson's cause gathered more attention and support. The satiric nature of Henderson's argument made the Flying Spaghetti Monster popular with bloggers as well as humor and internet culture websites.[9] The site was featured on websites such as Boing Boing, Something Awful, Uncyclopedia and Fark.com. The mainstream media quickly picked up on the phenomenon as the Flying Spaghetti Monster became a symbol for the case against intelligent design theory in public education.[10][11][12] Henderson himself is surprised by its success, stating that he "wrote the letter for [his] own amusement as much as anything."[13]

In August 2005, in response to a challenge from a reader, BoingBoing.net announced a $250,000 challenge, later raised to $1,000,000, of "Intelligently Designed currency" by other bloggers, payable to any individual who could produce empirical evidence proving that Jesus is not the son of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, though Jesus is not a part of Pastafarianism.[14] The challenge is modeled after a similar challenge issued by young-Earth creationist Kent Hovind (an award of $250,000 to anyone who can prove evolution "is the only possible way" that the Universe and life arose).

In November of the same year the school board voted to allow criticisms of evolution, including language about creative design, as part of testing standards.[15] On February 13, 2007, the Board voted 6 to 4 to reject the amended science standards enacted in 2005. This was the fifth time in eight years that the board had rewritten the standards concerning evolution.[16]

Bobby Henderson, a 25 year old Oregon State University physics graduate, had stated on his web site that he was desperately trying to avoid taking a job programming slot machines in Las Vegas.[2] On November 15 the Dallas Morning News described him as an unemployed slot-machine engineer,[17] and on the following day the New York Magazine described an advance from Villard to write The Gospel of The Flying Spaghetti Monster with the subheading "Jackpot for unemployed slot-machine engineer and heretic".[18] As of February 2008, Henderson describes himself as spending "a lot of time trying to avoid a Real Job", saying that "it's not just about the money. Speculative work is more interesting. Specifically, I'm interested in random stupid projects." He cites as a successful example his "taco-art project" which took him one day, and orders for prints had made him over $2000, though many other "stupid (but interesting) projects" didn't work out.[19]

In November 2007, three talks involving the Flying Spaghetti Monster were scheduled to be delivered at the American Academy of Religion's annual meeting in San Diego. The talks included titles such as, "Holy Pasta and Authentic Sauce: The Flying Spaghetti Monster's Messy Implications for Theorizing Religion".[20] Academics say while its inclusion in the program may get laughs, it is a serious debate on the essence of religion exploring questions such as "does religion require a genuine theological belief or simply a set of rituals and a community joining together as a way of signaling their cultural alliances to others?" or in short, "is an anti-religion like Flying Spaghetti Monsterism actually a religion?"[21]

In December 2007, The Ledger reported that members of venganza website, Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, sent emails to School Board members