The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster –a new look at the essence of theology
If theology is the study of God or gods and how God or gods relate to the world, then the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster represents a response to 21st century theology--literally, God can be anything, and is a fun look at what is a deadly serious subject amongst believers and theologians. Begun by Bobby Henderson, a Oregon State University physics graduate in response to the decision of the Kansas State Board of Education to require the teaching intelligent design as an alternative to the teaching of evolution in Kansas public schools, when it seemed that an ambiguous "intelligent designer" left a door open to any deity whatsoever. Henderson's God is a being that resembles spaghetti and meatballs, and the church's followers are called "Pasafarians." Henderson opened the site with an open letter to the Kansas State Board of Education:
"I am writing you with much concern after having read of your hearing to decide whether the alternative theory of Intelligent Design should be taught along with the theory of Evolution. I think we can all agree that it is important for students to hear multiple viewpoints so they can choose for themselves the theory that makes the most sense to them. I am concerned, however, that students will only hear one theory of Intelligent Design.
Let us remember that there are multiple theories of Intelligent Design. I and many others around the world are of the strong belief that the universe was created by a Flying Spaghetti Monster. It was He who created all that we see and all that we feel. We feel strongly that the overwhelming scientific evidence pointing towards evolutionary processes is nothing but a coincidence, put in place by Him.
It is for this reason that I'm writing you today, to formally request that this alternative theory be taught in your schools, along with the other two theories. In fact, I will go so far as to say, if you do not agree to do this, we will be forced to proceed with legal action. I'm sure you see where we are coming from. If the Intelligent Design theory is not based on faith, but instead another scientific theory, as is claimed, then you must also allow our theory to be taught, as it is also based on science, not on faith." ( read rest of letter here)
Henderson includes charts to make his point, for the existence of his God–the Flying Spaghetti Monster. He claims to speak for 10 million followers of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, and demands equal attention for their views.
The funny part about this is that Henderson actually got a response from the Kansas State Board of Education after posting this open letter on his website. You can read their response here . They were all very good natured about it, and for the most part, the responders from the Board indicated that although they were in favor of teaching about the Flying Spaghetti Monster, they were in the minority. One of the board members, however, was not amused, and her response simply was a dark sentence worthy of accompaniment with a tympanic dirge:
"It is a serious offense to mock God." (DUM DUM DUM……)
It was at this point the mainstream media picked up on the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster and the new religion became an instant hit amongst (according to Wikipedia) agnostics and atheists. Even the American Academy of Religion wanted to hear more about the Flying Spaghetti Monster at its annual convention in San Diego in 2007, inviting Henderson to give two talks on the phenomenon, which was featured in a CNN article entitled "Religious Scholars Mull Flying Spaghetti Monster." (CNN has since deleted or archived the article, so this link is to Richard Dawkin's site, which features the CNN article in full). Academicians were quite right to mull, because Henderson's site raises a wonderful question: What is the essence of religion itself?
To some people, like our darkly serious Kansas school board member featured above, God is no laughing matter. And all of them seemed to have missed the point. Who is God? What does God look like? What is religion? If intelligent design is a serious scientific inquiry, then there are other equally "serious" scientific inquiries into the origin of the universe that deserve equal attention; there is not just two sides, there can be, (and probably are) many different takes on who the Designer is, the nature of the Designer, and even if there is a designer at all.
Henderson features some wonderful graphics, including some that say WWFSMD? (What would Flying Spaghetti Monster Do?), and this great picture:
as well as wallpapers and sales of car emblems, key chains, t-shirts, mugs on its CafePress site, and this church even has its own Bible, which you can purchase on Amazon, entitled "The Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster."
You can even join the Facebook group, which currently has 42,675 fans.
If religious beliefs are required to have equal stance in the public schools, then ALL faiths' beliefs on the Designer God should be represented. That's the point. And if that happens, we will slowly witness our public schools turning into churches of chaos, in which our students learn nothing about science. And that, in the end, whether public schools give intelligent design fair time, or the Flying Spaghetti Monster fair time, means it hurts America, turns us into a laughingstock around the world, and sets us back to the 12th century in record time.
As for me, I'm a happy Pastafarian. It's enough for me to believe that God can be anything he/she wants to be. Even a flying bundle of spaghetti and meatballs. If you don't believe, simply visit the site of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster. People send great pictures of the Deity all the time.
Related posts:
- Looking for a New Religion?
- Intelligent Design | Texas Decision Anticipated
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- Church and State – A Postmodern Theology, Book One
- Creationists' Fight Rages in Europe, Too
- WOW! What a theory!
- The Latest Roundup of Texas Education News: Teachings on global warming, the age of the universe and — maybe — social studies affected
- A Theology for the Church
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2 Responses to “The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster –a new look at the essence of theology”
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This is great! I've heard the Flying Spaghetti Monster term quite often but didn't know where it came from. This is a priceless argument re: the intelligent design theory.
Dear Dakota,
Thanks for your article.
However, I believe that this may not be the correct history of the "flying spaghetti monster" (FSM). I believe the FSM was originally offered as a counter-example against the epistemology of Alvin Plantinga (philosopher at the university of notre dahm) regarding his externalist epistemological view of proper functioning according to a design plan. I know that this was an offered counter-example, however, I am not positive that it was first.
-Thanks
-Paul Johnson