| Flying Spaghetti Monster |
|---|
|
| First appearance | January 2005 |
|---|
| Created by | Bobby Henderson |
|---|
| Information |
|---|
| Aliases | FSM |
|---|
| Species | Deity |
|---|
| Religion | Pastafarianism |
|---|
The
Flying Spaghetti Monster (
FSM) is the deity of the
Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster or
Pastafarianism (a
portmanteauof
pasta and
Rastafarian), a
social movement that promotes a light-hearted view of religion and opposes the teaching of
intelligent design and
creationism in public schools. According to adherents, Pastafarianism is a "real, legitimate religion, as much as any other."
[3] Pastafarianism is legally recognized as a religion in
Poland,
[4] in
The Netherlands,
[5] and in
New Zealand – where Pastafarian representatives have been authorized to celebrate weddings and where the first legally recognized Pastafarian wedding was performed in April 2016.
[6][7][8] In the same month in the
United States, a federal judge ruled that the "Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster" is not a real religion.
[9]
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. Pastafarianism 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.
[12]
Pastafarian tenets (generally satires of creationism) are presented both on Henderson's
Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monsterwebsite, 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.
[13] Henderson asserts that a decline in the number of pirates over the years is the cause of
global warming.
[14] 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.
[3]
History
In January 2005,
[15] Bobby Henderson
(fr), then a 24-year-old
[16] Oregon State University physics graduate, sent an open letter regarding the Flying Spaghetti Monster to the Kansas State Board of Education.
[11][17][18] 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.
[14] The letter was sent prior to the
Kansas evolution hearings as an argument against the teaching of intelligent design in biology classes.
[11] Henderson, describing himself as a "concerned citizen" representing more than ten million others, argued that intelligent design and his belief that "the universe was created by a Flying Spaghetti Monster" were equally valid.
[11] In his letter, he noted,
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.
According to Henderson, since the intelligent design movement uses ambiguous references to a designer, any conceivable entity may fulfill that role, including a Flying Spaghetti Monster.
[19] 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."
[10][20]
In May 2005, having received no reply from the Kansas State Board of Education, Henderson posted the letter on his website, gaining significant public interest.
[3][15] Shortly thereafter, Pastafarianism became an Internet phenomenon.
[19][10] Henderson published the responses he then received from board members.
[21] Three board members, all of whom opposed the curriculum amendments, responded positively; a fourth board member responded with the comment "It is a serious offense to mock God".
[22] Henderson has also published the significant amount of hate mail, including death threats, that he has received.
[23][24] Within one year of sending the open letter, Henderson received thousands of emails on the Flying Spaghetti Monster, eventually totaling over 60,000, of which he has said that "about 95 percent have been supportive, while the other five percent have said I am going to hell".
[10] During that time, his site garnered tens of millions of hits.
Internet phenomenon
The FSM "fish" emblem, the symbol of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, was created by readers of the
Boing Boing web site.
[26][27] It is a parody of the Christian
Ichthys symbol.
As word of Henderson's challenge to the board spread, his website and cause received more attention and support. The satirical nature of Henderson's argument made the Flying Spaghetti Monster popular with bloggers as well as humor and Internet culture websites.
[28] The Flying Spaghetti Monster was featured on websites such as
Boing Boing,
Something Awful,
Uncyclopedia, and
Fark.com. Moreover, an International Society for Flying Spaghetti Monster Awareness and other fan sites emerged.
[29] As public awareness grew, the mainstream media picked up on the phenomenon. The Flying Spaghetti Monster became a symbol for the case against intelligent design in public education.
[11][30][31] The open letter was printed in many large newspapers, including
The New York Times,
The Washington Post, and
Chicago Sun-Times, and received "worldwide press attention", according to one journalist.
[32] Henderson himself was surprised by its success, stating that he "wrote the letter for [his] own amusement as much as anything".
[19]
In August 2005, in response to a challenge from a reader, Boing Boing announced a $250,000 prize—later raised to $1,000,000—of "Intelligently Designed currency" payable to any individual who could produce empirical evidence proving that Jesus is not the son of the Flying Spaghetti Monster.
[33] It was modeled as a parody of a
similar challenge issued by
young-earth creationist
Kent Hovind.
[19][34]
According to Henderson, newspaper articles on the Flying Spaghetti Monster attracted the attention of book publishers; he said that at one point, there were six publishers interested in the Flying Spaghetti Monster. In November 2005, Henderson received an advance from Villard to write
The Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster.
[35]
In November 2005, the Kansas State Board of Education voted to allow criticisms of evolution, including language about intelligent design, as part of testing standards.
[36] On February 13, 2007, the board voted 6–4 to reject the amended science standards enacted in 2005. This was the fifth time in eight years that the board had rewritten the standards on evolution.
[37]
Positions
With millions, if not thousands, of devout worshipers, the Church of the FSM is widely considered a legitimate religion, even by its opponents—mostly fundamentalist Christians, who have accepted that our God has larger balls than theirs.
“
”
–Bobby Henderson[3]
Although Henderson has stated that "the only dogma allowed in the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster is the rejection of dogma", some general beliefs are held by Pastafarians.
[3] Henderson proposed many Pastafarian tenets in reaction to common arguments by proponents of intelligent design.
[38] These "
canonicalbeliefs" are presented by Henderson in his letter to the Kansas State Board of Education,
[14] The Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, and on Henderson's web site, where he is described as a "prophet".
[39] They tend to satirize creationism.
[19]
Creation
The central creation myth is that an invisible and undetectable Flying Spaghetti Monster created the universe "after drinking heavily". According to these beliefs, the Monster's intoxication was the cause for a flawed Earth. Furthermore, according to Pastafarianism, all evidence for evolution was planted by the Flying Spaghetti Monster in an effort to test the faith of Pastafarians—parodying certain
biblical literalists.
[40] When scientific measurements such as radiocarbon dating are taken, the Flying Spaghetti Monster "is there changing the results with His Noodly Appendage".
[14]
Afterlife
Pirates and global warming
A
misleading graph that is claimed to correlate the number of pirates with global temperature
According to Pastafarian beliefs, pirates are "absolute divine beings" and the original Pastafarians.
[14] Furthermore, Pastafarians believe that the concept of pirates as "thieves and outcasts" is misinformation spread by Christian theologians in the Middle Ages and by
Hare Krishnas. Instead, Pastafarians believe that they were "peace-loving explorers and spreaders of good will" who distributed candy to small children, adding that modern pirates are in no way similar to "the fun-loving buccaneers from history". In addition, Pastafarians believe that ghost pirates are responsible for all of the mysteriously lost ships and planes of the
Bermuda Triangle. Pastafarians celebrate
International Talk Like a Pirate Day on September 19.
[42]
The inclusion of pirates in Pastafarianism was part of Henderson's original letter to the Kansas State Board of Education, in an effort to illustrate that
correlation does not imply causation.
[43] Henderson presented the argument that "global warming, earthquakes, hurricanes, and other natural disasters are a direct effect of the shrinking numbers of pirates since the 1800s".
[14]A deliberately
misleading graph accompanying the letter (with numbers humorously disordered on the
x-axis) shows that as the number of pirates decreased, global temperatures increased. This parodies the suggestion from some religious groups that the high numbers of disasters, famines, and wars in the world is due to the lack of respect and worship toward their deity. In 2008, Henderson interpreted the growing pirate activities at the
Gulf of Aden as additional support, pointing out that
Somalia has "the highest number of pirates
and the lowest
carbon emissions of any country".
[44]
Holidays
Alternative tree topper for Pastafarians, handmade from pipe cleaners and pom poms
Pastafarian beliefs extend into lighthearted religious ceremony. Pastafarians celebrate every Friday as a holy day.
[19] Prayers are concluded with a final declaration of affirmation, "R'amen" (or "rAmen"); the term is a parodic
portmanteau of the terms "Amen" and "
Ramen", referring to instant noodles and to the "noodly appendages" of their parodic deity.
[10]
Around the time of
Christmas,
Hanukkah, and
Kwanzaa, Pastafarians celebrate a vaguely defined holiday named "Holiday". Holiday does not take place on "a specific date so much as it is the Holiday season, itself". Because Pastafarians "reject dogma and formalism", there are no specific requirements for Holiday. Pastafarians celebrate Holiday in any manner they please.
[45] Pastafarians also celebrate "Pastover" as a parody of
Passover,
[46][47][48] and "Ramendan" as a parody of
Ramadan.
[49][50][51]
Pastafarians interpret the increasing usage of "Happy Holidays", rather than more traditional greetings (such as "Merry Christmas"), as support for Pastafarianism.
[45] In December 2005,
George W. Bush's White House Christmas greeting cards wished people a happy "holiday season",
[52]leading Henderson to write the President a note of thanks, including a "fish" emblem depicting the Flying Spaghetti Monster for his limousine or plane.
[53] Henderson also thanked
Walmart for its use of the phrase.
[54]
Books
The Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster
In December 2005 Bobby Henderson received a reported US$80,000 advance from
Villard to write
The Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster. Henderson said he planned to use proceeds from the book to build a pirate ship, with which he would spread the Pastafarian religion.
[35][55] The book was released on March 28, 2006,
[56] and elaborates on Pastafarian beliefs established in the open letter.
[57] Henderson employs satire to present perceived flaws with
evolutionary biology and discusses history and lifestyle from a Pastafarian perspective. The gospel urges readers to try Pastafarianism for thirty days, saying, "If you don't like us, your old religion will most likely take you back".
[32][58] Henderson states on his website that more than 100,000 copies of the book have been sold.
[59]
Scientific American described the gospel as "an elaborate spoof on Intelligent Design" and "very funny". In 2006, it was nominated for the
Quill Award in Humor, but was not selected as the winner.
[59] Wayne Allen Brenner of
The Austin Chronicle characterized the book as "a necessary bit of comic relief in the overly serious battle between science and superstition".
[57] Simon Singh of
The Daily Telegraph wrote that the gospel "might be slightly repetitive...but overall it is a brilliant, provocative, witty and important gem of a book".
[32]
The Loose Canon
In September 2005, before Henderson had received an advance to write the
Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, a Pastafarian member of the Venganza forums known as Solipsy, announced the beginning of a project to collect texts from fellow Pastafarians to compile into the
Loose Canon, the Holy Book of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, essentially analogous to the Bible.
[61] The book was completed in 2010 and was made available for download.
[62]
Some excerpts from The Loose Canon include:
I am the Flying Spaghetti Monster. Thou shalt have no other monsters before Me. (Afterwards is OK; just use protection.) The only Monster who deserves capitalization is Me! Other monsters are false monsters, undeserving of capitalization.
— Suggestions 1:1
"Since you have done a half-ass job, you will receive half an ass!" The Great Pirate Solomon grabbed his ceremonial scimitar and struck his remaining donkey, cleaving it in two.
— Slackers 1:51–52
Influence
Flying Spaghetti Monster contingent preparing for the 2009
Summer SolsticeParade and Pageant in Fremont, Seattle, Washington
As a cultural phenomenon
The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster now consists of thousands of followers,
[43] primarily concentrated on college campuses in North America and Europe.
[63] 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.
[64]
In August 2005, the Swedish concept designer Niklas Jansson created an adaptation of Michelangelo's
The Creation of Adam, superimposing the Flying Spaghetti Monster over God. This became and remains the Flying Spaghetti Monster's de facto brand image.
[29]The
Hunger Artists Theatre Company produced a comedy called
The Flying Spaghetti Monster Holiday Pageant in December 2006, detailing the history of Pastafarianism.
[65] The production has spawned a sequel called
Flying Spaghetti Monster Holy Mug of Grog, performed in December 2008.
[66] This communal activity attracted the attention of three
University of Florida religious scholars, who assembled a panel at the 2007
American Academy of Religion meeting to discuss the Flying Spaghetti Monster.
[63]
Handmade knitted and felted Flying Spaghetti Monster
In November 2007, four talks about the Flying Spaghetti Monster were delivered at the American Academy of Religion's annual meeting in San Diego.
[67] The talks, with titles such as
Holy Pasta and Authentic Sauce: The Flying Spaghetti Monster's Messy Implications for Theorizing Religion, examined the elements necessary for a group to constitute a religion. Speakers inquired whether "an anti-religion like Flying Spaghetti Monsterism [is] actually a religion".
[63] The talks were based on the paper,
Evolutionary Controversy and a Side of Pasta: The Flying Spaghetti Monster and the Subversive Function of Religious Parody,
[20] published in the GOLEM Journal of Religion and Monsters.
[40] The panel garnered an audience of one hundred of the more than 9,000 conference attendees, and conference organizers received critical e-mails from Christians offended by it.
[68]
Since October 2008, the local chapter of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster has sponsored an annual convention called
Skepticon on the campus of
Missouri State University.
[69] Atheists and skeptics give speeches on various topics, and a debate with Christian experts is held. Organizers tout the event as the "largest gathering of atheists in the Midwest".
[70]
The
Moldovan-born poet, fiction writer, and culturologist
Igor Ursenco entitled his 2012 poetry book
The Flying Spaghetti Monster (thriller poems).
On the nonprofit
microfinancing site,
Kiva, the Flying Spaghetti Monster group is in an ongoing competition to top all other "religious congregations" in the number of loans issued via their team. The group's motto is "Thou shalt share, that none may seek without funding,"
[71] an allusion to the Loose Canon which states "Thou shalt share, that none may seek without finding."
[72][73] As of March 2016, it has funded $2,970,200 in loans.
[74]
Bathyphysa conifera, a
siphonophore, has been called "Flying Spaghetti Monster" in reference to the FSM.
[75][76]
Use in religious disputes
Owing to its popularity and media exposure, the Flying Spaghetti Monster is often used as a modern version of
Russell's teapot.
[77][78] Proponents argue that, since the existence of the invisible and undetectable Flying Spaghetti Monster—similar to other proposed supernatural beings—cannot be
falsified, it demonstrates that the burden of proof rests on those who affirm the existence of such beings.
Richard Dawkins explains, "The onus is on somebody who says, I want to believe in God, Flying Spaghetti Monster, fairies, or whatever it is. It is not up to us to disprove it."
[77] Furthermore, according to Lance Gharavi, an editor of
The Journal of Religion and Theater, the Flying Spaghetti Monster is "ultimately...an argument about the arbitrariness of holding any one view of creation", since any one view is equally as plausible as the Flying Spaghetti Monster.
[19] A similar argument was discussed in the books
The God Delusion and
The Atheist Delusion.
[79][80]
In December 2007, the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster was credited with spearheading successful efforts in
Polk County, Florida, to dissuade the
Polk County School Boardfrom adopting new science standards on evolution. The issue was raised after five of the seven board members declared a personal belief in intelligent design. Opponents describing themselves as Pastafarians e-mailed members of the Polk County School Board demanding equal instruction time for the Flying Spaghetti Monster.
[81] Board member Margaret Lofton, who supported intelligent design, dismissed the e-mail as ridiculous and insulting, stating, "they've made us the laughing stock of the world". Lofton later stated that she had no interest in engaging with the Pastafarians or anyone else seeking to discredit intelligent design. As the controversy developed, scientists expressed opposition to intelligent design. In response to hopes for a new "applied science" campus at the
University of South Florida in
Lakeland, university vice president Marshall Goodman expressed surprise, stating, "[intelligent design is] not science. You can't even call it pseudo-science." While unhappy with the outcome, Lofton chose not to resign over the issue. She and the other board members expressed a desire to return to the day-to-day work of running the school district.
[12]
Legal status
National branches of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster have been striving in many countries to have FSMism become an officially (legally) recognized religion, with varying degrees of success. Pastafarianism/FSMism is recognized as a religion in
Poland,
[82] The Netherlands,
[83] and
New Zealand, where Pastafarian representatives have been authorized to celebrate weddings.
[6][7]- "This is not a question of theology," the ruling reads in part. "The FSM Gospel is plainly a work of satire, meant to entertain while making a pointed political statement. To read it as religious doctrine would be little different from grounding a 'religious exercise' on any other work of fiction."[84]
Pastafarians have used their claimed faith as a
test case to argue for
freedom of religion, and to oppose government discrimination against people who do not follow a recognized religion.
Marriage
The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster operates an
ordination mill on their website which enables officiates in jurisdictions where credentials are needed to officiate weddings.
[85] Pastafarians say that
separation of church and state precludes the government from arbitrarily labelling one denomination religiously valid but another an ordination mill. In November 2014, Rodney Michael Rogers and
Minneapolis-based Atheists for Human Rights sued
Washington County, Minnesota under the
Fourteenth Amendment equal protection clause and the
First Amendment free speech clause, with their attorney claiming
discrimination against atheists: "When the statute clearly permits recognition of a marriage celebrant whose religious credentials consist of nothing more than a $20 'ordination' obtained from the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster... the requirement is absolutely meaningless in terms of ensuring the qualifications of a marriage celebrant."
[86] A few days prior to a hearing on the matter, Washington County changed its policy to allow Rogers his ability to officiate weddings. This action was done in an effort to deny the court jurisdiction on the underlying claim. On May 13, 2015 the Federal Court held that the issue had become
moot and dismissed the case.
Atheists for Human Rights v. County of Washington, MN (D. Minn. 2015) (“Court holds case is mooted.”).
Text The first legally-recognized Pastafarian wedding occurred in New Zealand on April 16, 2016.
[7]
Free speech
In March 2007, Bryan Killian, a high school student in
Buncombe County, North Carolina, was suspended for wearing "pirate regalia" which he said was part of his Pastafarian faith. Killian protested the suspension, saying it violated his
First Amendment rights to religious freedom and freedom of expression.
[87] "If this is what I believe in, no matter how stupid it might sound, I should be able to express myself however I want to", he said.
[20][88]
A Pastafarian dressed in pirate regalia
In March 2008, Pastafarians in
Crossville, Tennessee, were permitted to place a Flying Spaghetti Monster statue in a free speech zone on the courthouse lawn, and proceeded to do so.
[89][90][91] The display gained national interest on blogs and online news sites and was even covered by
Rolling Stone magazine. It was later removed from the premises, along with all the other long-term statues, as a result of the controversy over the statue.
[92] In December 2011, Pastafarianism was one of the multiple denominations given equal access to placing holiday displays on the Loudoun County courthouse lawn, in
Leesburg, Virginia.
[93]
In 2012, Tracy McPherson of the Pennsylvanian Pastafarians petitioned the Chester County, Pennsylvania Commissioners to allow representation of the FSM at the county courthouse, equally with a Jewish
menorah and a Christian
nativity scene. One commissioner stated that either all religions should be allowed or no religion should be represented, but without support from the other commissioners the motion was rejected. Another commissioner stated that this petition garnered more attention than any he had seen before.
[94][95]
In August 2013,
Christian Orthodox religious activists attacked a peaceful rally that Russian Pastafarians had organized, knocking people at the rally to the ground. Police arrested and charged eight of the Pastafarians,
[102][103] one of whom later complained that they were arrested "just for walking".
[104][105]
In November 2014, the Church of the FSM obtained city signage in
Templin, Germany, announcing the time of Friday's weekly
Nudelmesse ("pasta mass"), alongside signage for various Catholic and Protestant Sunday services.
[109]
Headgear in identity photos
A woman wearing a colander as Pastafarian headgear
In July 2011, Austrian pastafarian
Niko Alm won the legal right to be shown in his driving license photo wearing a
pasta strainer on his head, after three years spent pursuing permission and obtaining an examination certifying that he was psychologically fit to drive. He got the idea after reading that Austrian regulations allow headgear in official photos only when it is worn for religious reasons.
[13][110][111]
In February 2013, a self-declared Pastafarian was denied the right to wear a spaghetti strainer on his head for his driver's license photo by the
New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission, which stated that a pasta strainer was not on a list of approved religious headwear.
[112]
In March 2013, a Belgian's identity photos were refused by the local and national administrations because he wore a pasta strainer on his head.
[113]
In July 2013, a member of the
Czech Pirate Party from
Brno in the Czech Republic was given permission to wear a pasta strainer on his head for the photograph on his official ID card.
[114] The Brno City Hall spokesman explained, "The application complies with the laws...where headgear for religious or medical reasons is permitted if it doesn't hide the face."
[115]
In August 2013, a student at
Texas Tech University got approval to wear a pasta strainer on his head in his driver's license photo. The student, Eddie Castillo, said, "You might think this is some sort of a gag or prank by a college student, but thousands, including myself, see it as a political and religious milestone for all atheists everywhere."
[116]
In June 2014, a New Zealand man obtained a driver's license with a photograph of himself wearing a blue spaghetti strainer on his head. This was granted under a law allowing the wearing of religious headgear in official photos.
[120]
In November 2014, former porn star
Asia Carrera obtained an identity photo with the traditional Pastafarian headgear from a Department of Motor Vehicles office in
Hurricane, Utah. The director of Utah's Driver License Division says that about a dozen Pastafarians have had their state driver's license photos taken with a similar pasta strainer over the years.
[121]
In November 2015, Massachusetts resident Lindsay Miller was allowed to wear a colander on her head in her driver's license photo after she cited her religious beliefs. Miller (who resides in Lowell) said on Friday, November 13 that she "absolutely loves the history and the story" of Pastafarians, whose website says has existed in secrecy for hundreds of years and entered the mainstream in 2005.
[122] Ms. Miller was represented in her quest by The American Humanist Association’s Appignani Humanist Legal Center.
[123]
In January 2016,
Russian Pastafarian Andrew Filin got a driver's license with his photo in a colander.
[124]
Some sources report that the colander in the form of pasta strainer, was recognised by
Austrian authorities as a religious
headgear of the
parody religion,
Pastafarianism, in 2011.
[125][126] This was denied by Austrian authorities, saying that religious motives were not the reason to grant the permission of wearing the headgear in a passport.
[127] The
Czech Republic recognised this religious headgear in 2013.
[128]
Pastafarian protester wears a colander while showing an icon of the Flying Spaghetti Monster
Some
anti-clerical protesters wore colanders to Piazza XXIV Maggio square in
Milan,
Italy, on June 2, 2012, in mock obedience to the Flying Spaghetti Monster.
[129]
Critical reception
Between the lines, the point of the letter was this: there's no more scientific basis for intelligent design than there is for the idea an omniscient creature made of pasta created the universe. If intelligent design supporters could demand equal time in a science class, why not anyone else? The only reasonable solution is to put nothing into sciences classes but the best available science.
U.S. Army ID tag (dog tag) listing "Atheist/FSM" as the religious/belief system preference
Justin Pope praised the Flying Spaghetti Monster as "a clever and effective argument".
[64] Simon Singh of the
Daily Telegraph described the Flying Spaghetti Monster as "a masterstroke, which underlined the absurdity of Intelligent Design", and applauded Henderson for "galvanis[ing] a defence of science and rationality".
[32] Sarah Boxer of the
New York Times said that Henderson "has wit on his side".
[11] In addition, the Flying Spaghetti Monster was mentioned in an article footnote of the
Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review as an example of evolution "enter[ing] the fray in popular culture", which the author deemed necessary for evolution to prevail over intelligent design.
[130] The abstract of the paper,
Evolutionary Controversy and a Side of Pasta: The Flying Spaghetti Monster and the Subversive Function of Religious Parody, describes the Flying Spaghetti Monster as "a potent example of how monstrous humor can be used as a popular tool of carnivalesque subversion".
[40] Its author praised Pastafarianism for its "
epistemological humility".
[20] Moreover, Henderson's website contains numerous endorsements from the scientific community.
[131] As
Jack Schofield of
The Guardian noted, "The joke, of course, is that it's arguably more rational than Intelligent Design."
[132]
Casey Luskin of the
Discovery Institute, which promotes intelligent design, contested this, saying, "the problem for their logic is that ID is not an arbitrary explanation, because we have much experience with intelligent agents producing the type of informational complexity we see in nature."
[133] Columnist
Jeff Jacoby wrote in
The Boston Globe that intelligent design "isn't primitivism or Bible-thumping or flying spaghetti. It's science."
[134] This view of science, however, was rejected by the United States National Academy of Sciences.
[135] Peter Gallings of
Answers in Genesis, a
Young Earth Creationist ministry said "Ironically enough, [Pastafarians], in addition to mocking God himself, are lampooning the Intelligent Design Movement for not identifying a specific deity—that is, leaving open the possibility that a spaghetti monster could be the intelligent designer... Thus, the satire is possible because the Intelligent Design Movement hasn’t affiliated with a particular religion, exactly the opposite of what its other critics claim!"
[136] Mark Coppenger, a pastor who teaches at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, commented, "I'm happy to say I think FSM hurts the evolutionists' program since, by mocking the Christian tradition... it reinforces the correct impression that there is genuine contempt for biblical faith in that camp... Besides, the parody is lame, and there are few things more encouraging than cheap shots from one's opponents."
[19]
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