Creationism, with its religious overtones, was being defeated in the U.S. They do not support Darwin's theory of evolution, calling it a "purposeless process."Ĭritics say Intelligent Design is the scientific offspring of creationism, a Bible-based belief popular among the religious right in the U.S., but renamed to disguise its Christian agenda. The object of his concern was the theory of Intelligent Design which holds that nature in all its variety and complexity could not have evolved through random mutation or natural selection, but needed the guiding hand of what proponents call "the intelligent cause," which remains unnamed. Henderson tells people that the spaghetti monster revealed itself to him and fired by inspiration he sat up one night, crafted his letter and put it online. I and many others around the world are of the strong belief that the universe was created by a Flying Spaghetti Monster," he wrote. "Let us remember there are multiple theories of Intelligent Design. He read that a school board in Kansas was going to teach alternatives to evolution in science classes and wrote a letter suggesting that if the theory of Intelligent Design was going to be in the curriculum, educators might as well be open to lots of other theories on the origins of life. The FSM, the idea of Bobby Henderson, a 26-year-old physics graduate from Oregon State University, first took shape as satire. Since the Flying Spaghetti Monster was revealed in 2005, millions have seen his image or read about him and his teachings, on the Internet site and also in a book published last year, The Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster. And as the word spread, a gospel was written and churches were established in his name.Īnd artists, inspired by his word, drew his image – a tangled mass of pasta, with two generous meatballs, and googly eyes protruding from stalks. In time, men and women heard of the spaghetti monster and came to worship him.
The theory goes like this: the Earth and all living things were created by a Supreme Being, the Flying Spaghetti Monster, and though there are no witnesses to creation, there are written accounts of it. Pastafarians are everywhere, sticking icons of the FSM on the backs of their cars and insisting on wearing pasta strainers on their heads (per their religious beliefs) while being photographed for their driver's licenses.From the department of one scientific theory is as good as another, comes the Flying Spaghetti Monster. The Church of the Flying Spaghetti monster, 10 years later, remains a cultural icon and internet phenomenon. The Gospel discusses creation at length, but also launches into humorous and convincing descriptions of the Pastafarian Heaven and Hell (hint: both involve strippers), as well as a discussion of the hidden histories of the faith (Pirates!) and its holidays.
The reason why the Earth is so flawed, Henderson argues, is that the Flying Spaghetti Monster (FSM) had created it while heavily intoxicated. The Gospel posits that the universe was created by a gigantic, sentient, flying tangle of spaghetti and meatballs. In 2005, founder Bobby Henderson first conceived of the religion while writing a letter of protest to the Kansas State Board of Education over their decision to permit the teaching of intelligent design as an alternative theory to evolution.Ī year later, Henderson published The Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, the official holy text of his "Pastafarian" religion. This tongue-in-cheek tome has become firmly embedded in popular culture.