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Flying Spaghetti Monster

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Niklas Jansson's adaptation 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 (FSM) is a deity created as a satirical protest to the decision by the Kansas State Board of Education to require the teaching of intelligent design as an alternative to biological evolution. The FSM is the deity of the parody religion[1][2] The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster,[3] founded in 2005 by Bobby Henderson. Since the intelligent design movement used ambiguous references to an unspecified 'Intelligent Designer' to avoid court rulings prohibiting the teaching of creationism as a science, this presumably left open the possibility that any imaginable thing could fill that role.

In an open letter sent to the education board, Henderson parodies the concept of intelligent design by professing belief in a supernatural creator, which closely resembles spaghetti and meatballs.[4] He furthermore calls for the "Pastafarian" theory of creation to be taught in science classrooms.[5]

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[6] and the Invisible Pink Unicorn.


Origins

The first public exposure of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster (CoFSM) 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 State 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. Intelligent design was thought of as a way to teach creationism in the public school system without mentioning the word "God". 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."

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."

The Board only responded after Henderson posted the letter on his website, gaining significant public interest. Henderson subsequently published the responses 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. The Flying Spaghetti Monster was featured on websites such as Boing Boing, Something Awful, Uncyclopedia, and Fark.com. Even recent fan sites, such as fsmawareness.com have sprung up to spread its existence. 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. Henderson himself was surprised by its success, stating that he "wrote the letter for [his] own amusement as much as anything."

Later developments

In August 2005, in response to a challenge from a reader, BoingBoing.net announced a $250,000 challenge, later raised to $1,000,000, for "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. 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 2005, the Kansas State Board of Education voted to allow criticisms of evolution, including language about creative design, as part of testing standards. 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.

Bobby Henderson, a 25-year-old Oregon State University physics graduate, had stated on his website that he was desperately trying to avoid taking a job programming slot machines in Las Vegas. On November 15 the Dallas Morning News described him as an unemployed slot-machine engineer, 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". 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,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 $2,000, though many other "stupid (but interesting) projects" didn't work out.

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".[21] 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?"

In December 2007, The Ledger reported that members of venganza website, Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, sent emails to School Board members in Polk County, Florida, on the issue of intelligent design.

Beliefs

Henderson proposed many of the beliefs in reaction to common arguments by proponents of intelligent design.

The canonical beliefs of Flying Spaghetti Monsterism are set forth by Henderson in the Open Letter,[4] the Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, and on Henderson's web site, where he is described as a prophet.

The central belief is that there is an invisible and undetectable Flying Spaghetti Monster, who created the entire universe "after drinking heavily." The Monster's intoxication was supposedly the cause for a flawed Earth. All 'evidence' for evolution was planted by the Flying Spaghetti Monster, in an effort to test Pastafarians' faith a form of the Omphalos hypothesis. When scientific measurements, such as radiocarbon dating, are made, the Flying Spaghetti Monster "is there changing the results with His Noodly Appendage."

The Pastafarian belief of heaven stresses that it contains beer volcanoes and a stripper factory. Hell is similar, except that the beer is stale, and the strippers have STDs.

Henderson uses parallel concepts from religious texts when describing the FSM, poking fun at those who literally interpret the Bible. The religious text of the Pastafarian religion is called the Loose Canon instead of the formal Canon. In place of the Ten Commandments, it contains the Eight I'd Really Rather You Didn'ts.

The official conclusion to prayers is "RAmen", contained in certain sections of The Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, and so on. It is a portmanteau of the Semitic term "Amen" (used in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam); and Ramen, a type of noodle. While it is typically spelled with both a capital "R" and "A", it is also acceptable to spell it with only a capital R.

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Time Posted: January 15 2009 08:01 pm EST
Last updated: January 28 2009 07:29 am EST


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