This is hilarious!
Flying Spaghetti Monsterism is thriving. So much so that there will be a panel discussion on FSM at the American Academy of Religion conference in San Diego this weekend.
More on the flip side...
The AP has an article out called "Pasta Monster Gets Academic Attention". For those unfamiliar with FSM:
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.
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An Oregon State physics graduate named Bobby Henderson stepped into the debate by sending a letter to the Kansas School Board. With tongue in cheek, he purported to speak for 10 million followers of a being called the Flying Spaghetti Monster - and demanded equal time for their views.
AS most DK readers already know, Mr. Henderson's main point 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.
There was much great discussion hear on DK during the Kansas and Dover, PA debate over Intelligent Design and it's been kept alive elsewhere on the web and college campuses.
So now, 3 students at the University of Florida have managed to get a panel discussion at "one of the field's most prestigious gatherings".
The title: "Evolutionary Controversy and a Side of Pasta: The Flying Spaghetti Monster and the Subversive Function of Religious Parody."
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The presenters' titles seem almost a parody themselves of academic jargon. Snyder will speak about "Holy Pasta and Authentic Sauce: The Flying Spaghetti Monster's Messy Implications for Theorizing Religion," while Gavin Van Horn's presentation is titled "Noodling around with Religion: Carnival Play, Monstrous Humor, and the Noodly Master."
The punchline in the article has given me a new quote to use when I'm frustrated about something. Even though I'm an agnostic/leaner to atheism, I've on occasion shouted "Oh Christ" when something bad happens. Haven't quite figured out how to stop that one... But from now on, it's "Oh Spaghetti Monster" or "Oh Monster!".
Lucas Johnston, the third Florida student, argues the Flying Spaghetti Monsterism exhibits at least some of the traits of a traditional religion - including, perhaps, that deep human need to feel like there's something bigger than oneself out there.
He recognized the point when his neighbor, a militant atheist who sports a pro-Darwin bumper sticker on her car, tried recently to start her car on a dying battery.
As she turned the key, she murmured under her breath: "Come on Spaghetti Monster!"