A challenger to the ID title: the Flying Spaghetti Monster?

I thought this was a joke when I first heard about it, but apparently these people are more serious than I had thought.

Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster

Enter the Pastafarians. Not sure if they smoke spaghetti, though...

The "prophet" actually sent a letter to school boards. This thing is great; check out a few gems from it.

From the link:

"What these people don’t understand is that He built the world to make us think the earth is older than it really is. 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 10,000 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."

Ah...so the "old earth" is just a divine joke after all. The FSM did it with his "noodly appendage."



Ha ha ha, damn, I almost died when I first saw the noodly appendage thing. Hoo, ok. But yeah, there it is.

This statement here was pretty interesting, too.

From the link:

4/23/06 - Wichita Eagle - Lessons in wielding authority - Despite Kansas School Board member Connie Morris's objections, the FSM poster still hangs on Randy Mousley's science classroom door.

Morris was upset: "They are very serious about claiming to be a religion," she said. "We know it's a satire. I don't mind the ridicule; it comes with the job. But I do personally object to my own religious beliefs being ridiculed, and that's what the Pastafarians delight in doing."

"These Pastafarians, she said Wednesday, have sent her at least a thousand e-mails since last fall."

Wait a minute, I thought ID had nothing to do with religion? And, how does one religious belief make fun of another? The lady said herself that the Pastafarians are serious.

Well, I guess we have another ID player out there now. I must admit, it is just as believable as any other ID theory, or any creationism theory for that matter. By that, I mean there is precisely the same amount of evidence for FSM as there is for ID, Christian creation, Hindu creation, Mayan creation, Bantu creation, etc.

Noodly appendage...



mod edit to use external quote code, please review this link



[edit on 7-5-2006 by DontTreadOnMe]

Its not actually a serious religion, its a parody by Bobby Henderson

Henderson created the religion in 2005 in a letter written to the Kansas State Board of Education, arguing their decision to require the teaching of intelligent design as an alternative to biological evolution.

Wikipedia article

Originally posted by JackofBlades
Its not actually a serious religion, its a parody by Bobby Henderson

Henderson created the religion in 2005 in a letter written to the Kansas State Board of Education, arguing their decision to require the teaching of intelligent design as an alternative to biological evolution.

Wikipedia article

Hmm, I wouldn't be so quick with a movement for utter dismissal here. This postulation is no mere parody, my friend. It was intricately designed to be composed of synergistic dual parts: a surface silliness and an intricate mirror displaying relative plausibility. In essence, it is as serious and as silly a religion as any other.

Zip

it's a joke, albeit at the same time a serious political movement. they need to make all of the connections they can to a mainstream religion in order for their claims to be taken seriously.

personally, i think it's a great idea, but far too many people are ignorantly attached to one faith without thinking there could be any validity to others. religion is a dangerous weapon.