We Have All Been Touched By His Noodly Appendage
Posted by: Josh
"What defines a religion? Does it require a genuine theological belief? Or simply a set of rituals and a community joining together as a way of signaling their cultural alliances to others?" These are some of the questions that will be discussed at a panel of the American Academy of Religion titled "Evolutionary Controversy and a Side of Pasta: The Flying Spaghetti Monster and the Subversive Function of Religious Parody."
It is easy enough to deride these Pastafarians as ridiculous, irreverent, or downright sacrilegious, but is it possible to take them seriously? After all this is not a real religion, but a parody of one. Flying Spaghetti Monster-ism, however, is not so much of a belief system as it is a forum to ask questions about God (and make fun of the simplistic answers Christians often give without truly considering the questions).
The question that started the whole thing was "Should Creationism be taught in public schools?" Bobby Henderson's response was that if Creationism were to be taught in schools the FSM version should be taught as well. Of course this is a satirical way of saying that if we are teaching matters of faith, where do we stop? Who's faith do we teach? At this point many would get upset and make the claim that Creationism is strongly supported by science, and not merely a matter of faith, thus missing the main point.
Instead of getting upset, perhaps we should enjoy the humor of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, acknowledge the sometimes-simplistic answers we give, and dialogue with these questing satirists in an effort to do greater justice to our overall understanding of the Bible and the world we live in.
Just a thought.
PS: Pirates are better than Ninjas
I hate the way that thing looks. It's grotesque and nightmare-inspiring. If they were going to invent an anti-religion headed by an absurd god, could they at least have made him look like something . . . more attractive? Something that you wouldn't have to overcome waves of nausea to worship?
Posted by
chantell |
Wed Nov 21, 02:35:00 PM 2007
The question shouldn't be "Should we teach creationism in public schools?"
The question should be, "Should there be public schools?"
The Dept. of Education and a public school system is not consistent with the constitution.
Posted by
Anonymous |
Fri Dec 14, 04:30:00 AM 2007