Flying Spaghetti Monster Among Topics to Be Discussed at Religion Summit
This weekend, San Diego is playing host to the annual meeting of the American Academy of Religion, and one topic on the docket is the Flying Spaghetti Monster, a satirical omnipresence that was created during the intelligent design debates in 2005.
"We have evidence that a Flying Spaghetti Monster created the universe. None of us, of course, were around to see it, but we have written accounts of it," said creator Bobby Henderson, who holds a degree in physics from Oregon State University.
The point Henderson is trying to make is that science classes should contain only science, and that if intelligent design is to be put into schoolbooks, equal space should be given to theories from other religions.
By which I mean that the Flying Spaghetti Monster is a criticism of religion, not ID. None of the people who find FSM funny seem to realize this.
It is a simple adjustment: if you put ID into school books as a backdoor to Jesus, you are also putting in a backdoor to spaghetti, which everyone arbitrarily thinks is absurd. It is a dumb thing to be putting in a school book but I have never heard anyone seriously suggest that any specific religious idea would appear in the text, so the Flying Spaghetti Monster only really works as a "Jesus is retarded" thing.
if you are a FSMersit you get 2 trillion virgins & 5 quadrillion sluts waiting for you in heaven regardless of whether you were good or evil. This is obviously the correct religion as it has the best perks, plus my parents and demographic are FSMerists too & I don't have the courage to question the logic of my faith (i could go to hell!) or learn anything about other religions (again, the fear of disobeying god frightens me into submission!)
was born way before this, the first tentale sex art is of a fishermans wife and an octopus - Dream of the Fisherman's Wife, a woodcutfrom 1820
http://en.wikipedia.org/ FSM is just as absurd as christianity's creation myth but doesn't try to take itself serious. Still though if ID is introduced to schools, FSM should be there if any creation myth is included. Absurd or not, its equal.
Except that "Intelligent Design" IS a "specific religious idea". ID is based on the premise that there is an "Intelligent Designer". Who is that supposed to be, if not some kind of god? It sure as hell isn't Stephen Hawking!
ID is nothing more than a thinly-veiled attempt to get religion into the classroom as a means of debunking evolution. "Teach the controversy" my ass! If ID belongs in the classroom, then evolution belongs in every church's Sunday School class.
The "Flying Spaghetti Monster" points out how easily you can declare a belief and challenge anyone with an opposing viewpoint to prove it false; and that just because it can't be proven false - it doesn't follow that it necessarily is true.
I hear Christians all the time telling me to show them one solid piece of proof of evolution. Everything I point at (such as even the lowliest science textbook) they claim has too many holes to be right. But they clam up when I invite them to show me one single shred of evidence that supports creation (or intelligent design, for that matter). Some point to the Bible as if it were a science textbook.
I've said it elsewhere in these forums: Trying to use the Bible to prove anything is like an audience full of children clapping their hands together and saying, "I DO believe in fairies. I DO, I DO, I DO!" and believing that they are REALLY bringing Tinkerbell back to life.
Only in america... ;) seriously, trying to throw bullshit religion in peoples faces is full on christian extremeism. They mayaswell strap a bomb to a priest and have em teach the class.
It's what you get for having a christian nut job running the place. Seriously, you all complain so much, but do not do anything about it. Sitting complaining on the internet isnt getting you anywere. Get a mob of people together and storm the white house.
People ... why can't they just deal with "this is what science tells us" and "this is what religion tells us" and leave it at that? Why all this wasted effort to make one form of "truth" win out over the other? Is science *wrong* for measuring what we can detect? And is religion *wrong* for satisfying a spiritual need as old as humanity?
This argument centers on a few pages of the Bible, Torah or Qur'an. Is it really worth it?
This is an obvious perversion of the one true God - The One Eyed One Horned Flying Purple People Eater. It is obvious that in these "the last days" the Anti-Purple People Eater has come and teaching false doctrine and shall decieve many. We must all pray and fast or surely we shall be lost.
Quote: "And you don't think this amounts to 'the universe was intelligently designed?'"
Um, that was exactly my point. But everyone can easily see how ridiculous the idea of the Spaghetti Monster is. I was attempting to make clear the fact that it has as much real merit as intelligent design - and as much scientific proof: none.
BTW, I did take note of your ";P" and figure that you're just yanking my chain, anyway.
Quote: "Haven't enough religions been invented today??"
Question from me: What are you talking about?
Surely you're not referring to my "Who is that supposed to be, if not some kind of god?" Because, by reading my post, an intelligent person would see that I was referring to the "Intelligent Designer" in that statement, which shows that ID is nothing more than religion in disguise.
