Pasta monster gets academic attention

[Didereaux]

Source: AP-Yahoo

" When some of the world's leading religious scholars gather in San Diego this weekend, pasta will be on the intellectual menu. They'll be talking about a satirical pseudo-deity called the Flying Spaghetti Monster, whose growing pop culture fame gets laughs but also raises serious questions about the essence of religion.
ADVERTISEMENT

The appearance of the Flying Spaghetti Monster on the agenda of the American Academy of Religion's annual meeting gives a kind of scholarly imprimatur to a phenomenon that first emerged in 2005, during the debate in Kansas over whether intelligent design should be taught in public school sciences classes...."



Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071116/ap_on_re_us/flying_spaghetti_monster;_ylt=Akz72OZYnewtv8xM6xn89fxH2ocA

---

---------------------------------------------------------

Yessir, I want to hear how well balanced mentally all the religious bigwigs are: takes a certain brain (dis)order to hold serious discussions on such as the 'Flying Spaghetti Monster'. I suppose though, all things considered ol' Pasta Puss has as much claim to reality as do the various deities this bunch of bi-peds create in their incompletely evolved cranial bits and pieces.

[Demeter]

1. Life Imitating Art

I swan.

[MNDemNY]

2. As a pastafarian, I say it's about time.

[msanthrope]

7. RAMEN!!!! n/t

[wordpix]

68. The pastafarian bible says the sauce was created in 6 days while the FSM

rested on the 7th. :)

[Zhade]

73. All hail the (totally not made up, unlike all other religions) FSM (Sauce Be Upon Him)!

NT!

[yellowcanine]

3. There are no FSM skeptics in foxholes.

HIS noodley appendage will protect you.

[havocmom]

4. Ramen!

[PassingFair]

5. LOL! n/t

[northernsoul]

6. I demand equal consideration for the Invisible Pink Unicorn!

It is common when discussing the Invisible Pink Unicorn to point out that because She is invisible, no one can prove that She does not exist. This is a parody of similar theistic claims about God — that God, as creator of the universe, is not subject to its laws and thus not materially detecting him tells us nothing about his existence or lack thereof. (It has likewise been said that trying to find god is like using a metal detector to search for unicorns in one's sock drawer.) The Invisible Pink Unicorn is an illustration of the absurdity of citing attributes and a lack of evidence as proof of a deity's existence. Her two defining attributes, invisibility and color (pink), are inconsistent and contradictory; this is part of the satire. The paradox of something being invisible yet having visible characteristics (e.g., color) is reflected in some East Asian cultures, wherein an "invisible red string" is said to connect people who have a shared or linked destiny.

[MNDemNY]

8. You damn "unicorners", all you want to do is keep us pastafarians down.

[yellowcanine]

10. Dang straight. I declare Holy Macaroni War against the Unicorners.

Strangle them with sphagetti linguini.

[MNDemNY]

17. RAMEN!! I call a zitifah!!!!

[yellowcanine]

19. Eighty linguini virgins await martyrs to the cause!

[conscious evolution]

37. The saints Alfredo and Boyardee

stand ready to assist.

The jumping off point is at the Gardenia Olivia.

[yellowcanine]

43. Saint Georgio and Saint Rice o Roni as well.

[conscious evolution]

54. Along with the angel

Hair.

[MilesColtrane]

62. I'm holding out for Extra Virgin myself. n/t

[bluerum]

60. meatball them! meatball them!

[TrogL]

21. These people clearly do not understand string theory

...which is obsolete anyway.

[bemildred]

9. Ridicule is the only sensible approach to organized religious dogma. nt

[Sabriel]

11. I want to know what they're serving at the lunch

Will they be worshiping His Noodly Goodness, or just eating veggie wraps?

[Didereaux]

18. Tripe and a lot of ham! ;) n/t

[TechBear_Seattle]

34. Sounds like an appropriate menu for a religion conference

:hide:

[LiberalEsto]

12. Arrrrrh!

They can take their "scholarly imprimatur" and shove it off starboard.
I don't need no stinking "scholarly imprimatur" to believe in Her Noodley Goodness.

May the Sauce be with you!

[yardwork]

55. I have a serious question. Why do Pastaferians speak Pirate?

[LiberalEsto]

57. Because.....

Truth be told, I don't know.

[kath]

67. From the original letter to the Kansas School Board:

I’m sure you now realize how important it is that your students are taught this alternate theory. It is absolutely imperative that they realize that observable evidence is at the discretion of a Flying Spaghetti Monster. Furthermore, it is disrespectful to teach our beliefs without wearing His chosen outfit, which of course is full pirate regalia. I cannot stress the importance of this enough, and unfortunately cannot describe in detail why this must be done as I fear this letter is already becoming too long. The concise explanation is that He becomes angry if we don’t.

You may be interested to know that global warming, earthquakes, hurricanes, and other natural disasters are a direct effect of the shrinking numbers of Pirates since the 1800s. For your interest, I have included a graph of the approximate number of pirates versus the average global temperature over the last 200 years. As you can see, there is a statistically significant inverse relationship between pirates and global temperature.



There may be more on the Pastafarian website re: the crucial importance of pirates (no time to look right now):
http://www.venganza.org/

{on edit - found this at Wikipedia:}
According to the Pastafarian belief system, pirates are "absolute divine beings" and the original Pastafarians.<4> Their image as "thieves and outcasts" is misinformation spread by Christian theologians in the Middle Ages and Hare Krishnas. Pastafarianism says that they were in fact "peace-loving explorers and spreaders of good will" who distributed candy to small children, and adds that modern pirates are in no way similar to "the fun-loving buccaneers from history." Pastafarians celebrate International Talk Like a Pirate Day on the 19th of September.

The inclusion of pirates in Pastafarianism was part of Henderson's original letter to the Kansas School Board. It illustrated that correlation does not equal causation. Henderson put forth the argument that "global warming, earthquakes, hurricanes, and other natural disasters are a direct effect of the shrinking numbers of pirates since the 1800s."<4> A chart accompanying the letter shows that as the number of pirates decreased, global temperatures increased; the absurdity of this demonstrates how statistically significant correlations do not imply a causal relationship (see confounding).


The Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster

The Gospel of The Flying Spaghetti MonsterMain article: The Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster
In December 2005, Bobby Henderson received a reported USD $80,000 advance to pen The Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster. Henderson said he plans to use the proceeds from the sale of the book to build a pirate ship, with which he may travel the world in order to convert heathens to the Pastafarian religion.<19> The book was released on March 28, 2006 (ISBN 0-8129-7656-8).

The Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster is the Pastafarian equivalent of the Bible. It parodies biblical figures with characters such as Captain Mosey, a pirate and the FSM equivalent of Moses. The Gospel contains the aforementioned Eight "I'd Really Rather You Didn'ts." It also provides information on how to convert non-"Pastafarians" and explains many of the religion's beliefs (for example, that lack of pirates causes global warming).

[yardwork]

71. Thank you! I'm trying to get up to speed on FSM doctrine.

[AlGore-08.com]

13. But will they attend the conference dressed as pirates?

After the conference, they can kick back at the San Diego Maritime Museum!

http://www.sdmaritime.com/ContentPage.asp?ContentID=273





Some of the most famous pirates in history prowled the world’s largest ocean. Pirates of the Pacific will highlight the exploits of famous pirates like William Dampier, a sophisticated buccaneer who mixed an interest in natural science and geography with a lust for adventure.

The exhibit will also focus on Chinese famous pirates that threatened merchant ships in the South China Sea for nearly 100 years before a squadron of Royal Navy warships destroyed the pirate fleet. Pirates of the Pacific will satisfy people’s timeless fascination and insatiable curiosity about famous pirates with a marvelous collection of artifacts, pictures and hands-on exhibits.

[NashVegas]

27. What Came First? FSM or Kingdom of Loathing?

I'm thinking KoL was the original pasta pirate adventure.

[wordpix]

69. Watch out, blasphemer, or the end of boiling times cometh

[me b zola]

51. Perhaps George Harrison will be there in spirit

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSIjlUMV6Is

[Beetwasher]

14. May Your Balls Always Be Meaty And Your Days Blessed W/ Fresh Parmesan

n/t

[Paulie]

15. Soba!

:)

[Dr.Phool]

16. Blaspemers will be drowned in a deluge of marinara!

[Canuckistanian]

58. Boiled in salty water

Then drizzled with a good extra virgin olive oil.

His will be done.

[NoodleyAppendage]

20. Who are you calling, "pseudo," pitiful Earthling???

Why I'm as real as Mohammed, Yaweh, Ganesh, Budda, and all of the other non-testable deities!!!!

How dare you, AP. This is a clear cut example of deity RACISM.

Ramen.

[BB1]

22. After the meeting, the Flying Spaghetti Monster was overheard saying:

"That's a spice meat-a-ball-a!"

[Zhade]

74. Wow, I actually DID lol, haha!

NT!

[troubleinwinter]

23. Let them "explain" The Miracle:

The Pirate Ship on the Mountain-





Let them EXPLAIN how a pirate ship lands half-buried in a mountainside, if not by the divine power of Pasta!

[troubleinwinter]

24. And the little children came...

.. and they heard the stories of the ancient pirates, and they believed.

[troubleinwinter]

28. On my pilgimage there, I saw the beautiful rendition of 'Our Lady of White Clam Sauce',

adorned with a clam shell on each breast.

[wordpix]

70. FSM's hole-y vision is etched in my colander - thousands are making the pilgrimage

to see it

[bear425]

25. It's true; it's even being covered on CNN!

http://www.cnn.com/2007/LIVING/personal/11/16/flying.spaghettimonster.ap/index.html

This entire thread deserves a DUzy award.

[Hydra]

26. Long live Pastafarians!

only with a dose of the absurd can the truly absurd be quantified.

Who knows? Maybe gothic cathedrals will be raised to his Noodliness and we'll be worshipping by partaking in the sacred breadstick dipped in the blessed marinara in the future.

There are worse things that could happen :evilgrin:

[conscious evolution]

38. They cathedrals already exist

[KamaAina]

29. Touched By His Noodly Appendage!

um, how do Pastafarians know it's a "he"?

[Tesha]

31. Probably by the (meat)balls! (NT)

[damntexdem]

30. How very blasphemous!!!!!!

It's "Flying Spaghetti Monster," not "Pasta Monster." Sure, adherents are sometimes referred to as "Pastafarians," but the entity itself is the FSM.

;-)

[Didereaux]

48. I agree...heretics with false idols, the lot of 'em! ;)

[hootinholler]

56. Yes, he might be confused with the slightly hovering linguini monster.

[LeftHander]

32. Pastafarians! nt

[Mojambo]

33. I'm hungry. n/t

[RoccoR5955]

35. Calm down people...

After all, WWFSMD?

[Didereaux]

49. WWFSMD? He'd noodle the lot of 'em, he would!

[Fire Walk With Me]

36. It takes a Kansas to call such a diety into being.

You see, there IS symmetry in the universe.

:rofl:

[sakabatou]

39. RAmen!

[silverweb]

40. I love it!

All hail the Noodly One!



_{Edited to add awesome FSM smilie and pirate.}

[MetaTrope]

41. Missed again!

[deepthought42]

42. ARR!

Blessed be His Pastaness, may you be touched by his Noodly Appendage...

[northernsoul]

45. Holy Semolina! Where is that?

????

[toadzilla]

50. Baltimore!!!!!

like 2 miles from my house!

[hootinholler]

53. Bawlmer, Hon. n/t

[orleans]

44. the scholars will point out how obvious it is that people want to believe in something

either that or they're just really really hungry

:9

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

46. Will they discuss the Great Ravioli Schism?

The Buffet Counter-Reformation?

The Diet of Vermicelli?

[flyingfysh]

52. you forget the other great schism in the FSM religion

The Marinarans on one side, the clam sauce devotees on the other. Alas, FSMism is not immune to schims.

[NobleCynic]

63. Do not discount the eastern varieties in FSM

The Meinian reformation of Chao asking for equality for our fried brothers?

The great soba uprising of 1912 which further split the congregation along grain lines? The church is still recovering from the damage those buckwheat heathens caused.

And heretical cults aligned to surely demonic influenced pastas? The dark servants of tortellini and penne, or even Vermicelli himself? I shudder to think of such things...

[Zhade]

75. I just want it noted, this post is brilliant.

NT1

[Dudley_DUright]

47. LOL

One of my colleagues at my university started a scholarly journal on new and emerging religions. This would be right up his alley. All hail the noodle-some one.

[Warren Stupidity]

59. Pasta monster ? Jeepers Creepers how insulting.

AP should show some respect. The Flying Spaghetti Monster is the correct term.

[bluerum]

61. Come on - the MSM. Lucky they can read and write.

[IndianaGreen]

64. Flying Spaghetti Monster is as much a deity as Jesus or L. Ron Hubbard

After all, by its very nature, religion is a set of irrational beliefs.

[trof]

65. K&R from a recent FSM convert.

"For thine is the Pasta, and the Parmigiana, and the Pesto Forever, Ramen."

[trof]

66. And here's one of our traditional Holiday Celebrations:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNV7ZTAIPYE&feature=related

[SalmonChantedEvening]

72. Arr says he, where be your Buccaneers?

Under me Buccanhat says I!

Hear our prayers, Blessed Virgin Olive Oil

Ramen.