Flying Spaghetti Monster

Hi ya! Great to see you! Alright, are you? Not down with seasonal allergies, swine flu, Ebola, prickly heat, an unknown spaghetti and meatball-like rash or any other nasty thing like that, are you? That's good to hear. Coffee's freshly roasted and brewed and there's a new tray of virtual treats straight out of the oven so help yourself. A little irreverence for you today. After all, it is December and my quirky mind gets to acting up in the cold weather....

The Flying Spaghetti Monster (FSM) is the deity of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster or Pastafarianism (a portmanteau of pasta and Rastafarian), a movement that promotes a light-hearted view of religion and opposes the teaching of intelligent design and creationism in public schools. Although adherents describe Pastafarianism as a genuine religion, it is generally seen by the media as a parody religion.

The "Flying Spaghetti Monster" was first described in a satirical open letter written by Bobby Henderson in 2005 to protest the Kansas State Board of Education decision to permit teaching intelligent design as an alternative to evolution in public school science classes. In that letter, Henderson satirized creationism by professing his belief that whenever a scientist carbon-dates an object, a supernatural creator that closely resembles spaghetti and meatballs is there "changing the results with His Noodly Appendage". 

Henderson argued that his beliefs were just as valid as intelligent design, and called for equal time in science classrooms alongside intelligent design and evolution. After Henderson published the letter on his website, the Flying Spaghetti Monster rapidly became an Internet phenomenon and a symbol of opposition to the teaching of intelligent design in public schools.

Pastafarian tenets (generally satires of creationism) are presented both on Henderson's Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster website, where he is described as "prophet", and in The Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, written by Henderson in 2006. The central belief is that an invisible and undetectable Flying Spaghetti Monster created the universe. Pirates are revered as the original Pastafarians. 

Henderson asserts that a decline in the number of pirates over the years is the cause of global warming. The FSM community congregates at Henderson's website to share ideas about the Flying Spaghetti Monster and crafts representing images of it, as well as to discuss "sightings" of the Flying Spaghetti Monster.

Because of its popularity and exposure, the Flying Spaghetti Monster is often used as a contemporary version of Russell's teapot – an argument that the philosophic burden of proof lies upon those who make unfalsifiable claims, not on those who reject them. The Flying Spaghetti Monster has received praise from the scientific community and criticism from proponents of intelligent design. 

Pastafarians have engaged in disputes with creationists, including in Polk County, Florida, where they played a role in dissuading the local school board from adopting new rules on teaching evolution. 

Anxious to read more about the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster? Go to

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_Spaghetti_Monster 

or go directly to the church website:

www.venganza.org

As a cultural phenomenon

The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster now consists of thousands of followers, primarily concentrated on college campuses in North America and Europe. 

According to the Associated Press, Henderson's website has become "a kind of cyber-watercooler for opponents of intelligent design". On it, visitors track meetings of pirate-clad Pastafarians, sell trinkets and bumper stickers, and sample photographs that show "visions" of the Flying Spaghetti Monster.

Okay...that's enough irreverence for one day!

See ya, eh!

Bob