In Praise of Pastafarianism: The Flying Spaghetti Monster

Image from source, Venganza.org

I've been meaning to write about The Flying Spaghetti Monster and Pastafarianism for some time, and was just waiting for an appropriate news story to peg the issue to.

I'm tired of waiting.

The Flying Spaghetti Monster was "created" as an illustrative point, during one of the fights to stop creationism from being taught in science class along-side evolution. Oh, excuse me, I meant to say "Intelligent Design" not "creationism," not that it matters. ID is merely creationism in fancy new clothes.

Anyway, springing from that (apparently successful) beginning, the idea seemed to catch on, for its originality, humor, and point of view.

There is some marvelously creative artwork on their web site, much of which is available for purchase. My favorite is the "Jesus Fish"-like car emblem.

Here is an excerpt of the Pastafarian doctrine.

[Excerpted from Wikipedia, see link below]

The Eight "I'd Really Rather You Didn'ts"

1. I'd really rather you didn't act like a sanctimonious holier-than-thou ass when describing my noodly goodness. If some people don't believe in me, that's okay. Really, I'm not that vain. Besides, this isn't about them so don't change the subject.

2. I'd really rather you didn't use my existence as a means to oppress, subjugate, punish, eviscerate, and/or, you know, be mean to others. I don't require sacrifices, and purity is for drinking water, not people.

3. I'd really rather you didn't judge people for the way they look, or how they dress, or the way they talk, or, well, just play nice, Okay? Oh, and get this into your thick heads: woman = person. man = person. Samey = Samey. One is not better than the other, unless we're talking about fashion and I'm sorry, but I gave that to women and some guys who know the difference between teal and fuchsia. . .

Though it is all very tongue-in-cheek, I have to wonder: will this turn into another Scientology someday? An invented religion that takes on a life of its own? It may well be on its way, as some people seem to be taking it pretty seriously.

So don't be surprised if you wander into what you think is an Italian restaurant, only to have people pray over your plate of pasta.

RAmen, brother, RAmen.

Read about FSM at: Venganza.org

and at Wikipedia.com