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Flying Spaghetti Monster

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File:Touched by His Noodly Appendage.jpg
This parody of Michelangelo's The Creation of Adam depicts the Flying Spaghetti Monster in its typical guise as a clump of tangled spaghetti with two eyestalks, two meatballs, and many "noodly appendages".

The Flying Spaghetti Monster is the deity of a parody religion founded in 2005 by Oregon State University physics graduate 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 on his website, Henderson professes belief in a supernatural Creator that resembles spaghetti and meatballs called the Flying Spaghetti Monster, and calls for Pastafarianism to be taught in science classrooms, essentially invoking a reductio ad absurdum argument against the teaching of intelligent design.[1][2] Followers of the Flying Spaghetti Monster (FSM) call themselves Pastafarians, a portmanteau of pasta and Rastafarian.

Due to its recent popularity and media exposure, the Flying Spaghetti Monster is used by atheists, such as Richard Dawkins, as a modern version of Russell's teapot.[3]

Beliefs

File:FSM himself.jpg
A Pastafarian depiction of the creation of the universe sent in an open letter to the Kansas City School Board. It includes the Monster, a tree-covered mountain, and a midgit [sic].

Henderson proposed many of the beliefs to parody common arguments by proponents of intelligent design.[2] These are the canonical beliefs set forth by Henderson:[4]

  • All evidence for evolution was planted by the Flying Spaghetti Monster. The FSM tests Pastafarians' faith by making things look older than they are (q.v. Omphalos). "For example, a scientist may perform a carbon-dating process on an artifact. He finds that approximately 75% of the Carbon-14 has decayed by electron emission to Nitrogen-14, and infers that this artifact is approximately 11,000 years old, as the half-life of Carbon-14 appears to be 5,730 years. But what our scientist does not realize is that every time he makes a measurement, the Flying Spaghetti Monster is there changing the results with His Noodly Appendage. We have numerous texts that describe in detail how this can be possible and the reasons why He does this. He is of course invisible and can pass through normal matter with ease."

Pirates and global warming

File:Pchart.jpg
Chart comparing Number of Pirates versus Global Warming; an example of the fact that correlation does not equal causation.

According to the Pastafarian belief system, pirates are "absolute divine beings" and the original Pastafarians. Their image as "thieves and outcasts" is misinformation spread by Christian theologians in the Middle Ages. Pastafarianism says that they were in fact "peace-loving explorers and spreaders of good will" who distributed candy to children.

The inclusion of pirates in pastafarianism was part of Henderson's original letter to the Kansas School Board. It illustrated that correlation does not equal causation. Henderson put forth the argument that "global warming, earthquakes, hurricanes, and other natural disasters are a direct effect of the shrinking numbers of pirates since the 1800s."[4] A chart accompanying the letter shows that as the number of pirates decreased, global temperatures increased; it shows that things with statistically significant correlations are not necessarily related.

The Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster

File:Fsm book.jpg
Gospel of The Flying Spaghetti Monster
Main article: The Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster

In December 2005, Bobby Henderson received a reported USD $80,000 advance to pen The Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster. According to the author, he plans to use the proceeds from the sale of the book to build a pirate ship, with which he may travel the world in order to convert heathens to the Pastafarian religion.[5] The book was released on March 28, 2006 (ISBN 0-8129-7656-8).

The Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster is the Pastafarian equivalent of the Bible. It parodies biblical figures with characters such as Captain Mosey, a pirate and the FSM equivalent of Moses. The Gospel contains The Eight "I'd Really Rather You Didn'ts", parodying the Ten Commandments.

History and developments

File:FSM logo.svg
The FSM logo is a parody of the Ichthys or "Jesus Fish". It contains the basic body shape of the Ichthys, two eye stalks, six "noodly appendages", and the initials "FSM" for Flying Spaghetti Monster.

Bobby Henderson founded the "religion" for his website primarily as a satirical attack on the teaching of intelligent design in science classes. The site was featured on Sensible Erection on June 17, 2005[6]. References on blogs and Internet humor sites such as Boing Boing, Something Awful, Uncyclopedia and Fark.com, and the mainstream media soon followed.[7][8][9] 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.[10] The challenge is modeled after a similar challenge issued by 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) that has been criticized by scientists as being logically flawed in design.[11] Pastafarians in Australia recently used the Census in Australia of 2006 to raise public awareness of Pastafarianism in a campaign similar to the Jedi census phenomenon. They asked Australians to record their religion as "Pastafarian" in the August 2006 Australian Census.[12]

The Myspace Worm

A flash worm appeared on Myspace in July 2006, replacing a user's "books" section with a link to the Gospel's website. A large, black banner promoting Pastafarianism also consumed the top portion of any affected Myspace. An estimated 170,000 users were affected. The FSM website and Bobby Henderson were not responsible, and instructions on a fix were posted on the same website the worm advertised.[13]

File:FSMshirt.jpg
Some websites sell shirts, mugs, and other paraphernalia in support of Pastafarianism.

See also

References and notes

Footnotes

  1. ^ "Verbatim: Noodle This, Kansas". Washington Post. August 28, 2005. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  2. ^ a b Thierman, Jessica (September 18, 2005). "Touched by His Noodly Appendage". Gelf Magazine. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help) Cite error: The named reference "gelf" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  3. ^ Wolf, Gary (October 23, 2006). "The Crusade Against Religion". Wired News. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  4. ^ a b c Henderson, Bobby (2005). "Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster" (HTML). Retrieved 2006-06-11. Cite error: The named reference "venganza" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  5. ^ Craig, Katleen (December 22, 2005). "Passion of the Spaghetti Monster". Wired News. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  6. ^ "Intelligent Design and Pirate Global Warming". Sensible Erection. 2005. Retrieved 2006-06-11. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |year= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)CS1 maint: year (link)
  7. ^ "The Flying Spaghetti Monster". New Scientist. August 6, 2005. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  8. ^ Rothschild, Scott (August 24, 2005). "Evolution debate creates monster". Lawrence Journal-World. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  9. ^ Boxer, Sarah (August 29, 2005). "But Is There Intelligent Spaghetti Out There?". New York Times. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  10. ^ "Boing Boing's $250,000 Intelligent Design challenge". BoingBoing.net. 2005. Retrieved 2006-06-11. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |year= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)CS1 maint: year (link)
  11. ^ "CA:341: Hovind's Challenge". Index to Creationist Claims. TalkOrigins.org. Retrieved 2006-06-11.
  12. ^ "FSM - You know it makes Census". noodlynation.blogspot. 2006. Retrieved 2006-07-27. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |year= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)CS1 maint: year (link)
  13. ^ "The Myspace Worm Saga" (HTML). Burntpickle.com. 2006-07-09. Retrieved 2006-11-22.
  14. ^ "Richard Dawkins / Salmon Farming". Science Friday. NPR. October 6, 2006. Retrieved 2006-11-22. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  15. ^ "The Flying Spaghetti Monster Holiday Pageant". Hunger Artists Theatre Company. 2006. Retrieved 2006-11-29. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |year= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)CS1 maint: year (link)

General references

  1. Henderson, Bobby (2006). The Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster. Villard Books. ISBN 0-8129-7656-8.

Other media coverage

  1. Schofield, Jack (August 20, 2005). ""Intelligent Design" and Pastafarianism". Guardian Unlimited. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  2. "Evolution Debate Spawns a Saucy Monster". Wichita Eagle. August 28, 2005. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  3. "In the beginning there was the Flying Spaghetti Monster". Daily Telegraph. September 11, 2005. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  4. "Flying Spaghetti Monster gains following". Associated Press. September 24, 2005. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
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