Pastafarianism, or The Church Of The Flying Spagetti Monster, believe it or not is a real ans growing religion. As a Vegan should I embrace this? Yes it’s a quiet and rainy day and I have done the ironing!
I first came across this now creature and it’s followers in the mid’ to late 2000’s, and we all had a good laugh about it. It’s now 2023, it’s still there and growing! [The number of followers, not the creature, I hope.]
The Flying Spaghetti Monster (known as the FSM), is the deity of what began as a parody religion and has grown to become a social movement and and is now a recognised religion in some countries.
So what’s gpoing on?
The followers of The Flying Spaghetti Monster, who call themselves Pastafarians, now number in the tens of thousands and exist in over sixty (60) countries, these followers are primarily located in the USA (that explains the movements longevity) as well Western Europe and New Zealand (really). The Flying Spaghetti Monster , which is said to be invisible, is depicted as a floating mass of spaghetti with large meatballs on either side of its body and two centrally located eye-stalks.
The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster began in 2005, when Bobby Henderson, a recent physics graduate of Oregon State University, sent a letter to the Kansas Board of Education, which was at the time debating the inclusion of intelligent design theories in US high school classes on evolution. The letter, which parodied the reasoning used to argue a scientific basis for intelligent design, stated that teaching about intelligent design must also include an alternative theory that the universe was created by a Flying Spaghetti Monster. After a prolonged period of no response Bobby then posted his letter on the Internet. The post attracted a great deal of popular interest resulting in it becoming a viral sensation.
As a follow up in 2006 Henderson published the The Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster to expand the then budding religions doctrine. One of the things he stated in the Gospel was that Pirates are and were all true Pastafarians, and that global warming is in large due to the decline in the number of Pirates since the 1800’s (I don’ t think that the Somali Pirates count as true pirates in this respect). As a result Pastafarians are encouraged to dress in pirate regalia.
In Pastsfarianism Friday is celebrated as the Sabbath, and Holiday is observed in late December. The code of conduct for the followers of the FSM are laid out in the eight “I’d Really Rather You Didn’ts.” Belief is not required of church members, however, and all dogma is rejected.
It gets better! Pastafarians have challenged laws that give particular privileges to religious ideas, practices, or bodies of worship in several countries and as a result in 2011 a Pastafarian was allowed to wear a colander (pasta strainer) on his head in his driver’s license photo in Austria, a country which permits religious headgear for official documents. Later the colander was recognized as religious headgear in the Czech Republic, New Zealand, and the U.S. states of Massachusetts and Utah.
The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster was accepted as a recognised religion in the Netherlands in 2016, and that same year the world’s first legally recognised Pastafarian marriage was celebrated in New Zealand.
t seems that The Church of Flying Spaghetti Monster can be considered a real, legitimate religion, as much as any other. The fact that many see this is as a satirical religion doesn’t change the fact that by any standard one can come up with, it is as legitimate religion as any other. And perhaps that is the point.
Note: I am of the Christian belief, and broadcasted my Church’s virtual services throughout lockdown in the UK. Here in the UK (despite what some believe, and may try to curtail) there is still a freedom of speech and belief. I may not agree with The Church Of The Flying Spaghetti Monster but it’s existence and growth is of interesting to me. Perhaps the more orthodox and established religions of all faiths and types should take note!
So there you go, how to set up a new and accepted religion in just over a decade. This truly is a mad, mad world we live in!
Rob
