His noodly appendage

When the Kansas School Board in 2005 decided to teach the theory of intelligent design alongside established theories of evolution, there was an uproar among more level-minded citizens of Earth. College student Bobby Henderson would have nothing to do with the decision—and even threatened legal action—unless the Board also acknowledged and taught his beliefs, which have evolved into what is now known as the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster.

Of course, the Church of the FSM was a parody, and the letter Bobby wrote to the Kansas School Board was a bitter satire, but nonetheless, the Spaghetti caught on, and today thousands of people call themselves “Pastafarians” (a portmanteau of “pasta” and “Rastafarian”). But was this just a stunt, a joke played by a bored and disgruntled college student? Or was this truly a brilliant, devastating satire of intelligent design enthusiasts?

The proof, so to speak, is in the pudding. Had Henderson merely submitted a letter demanding they preach his Spaghetti Monster without offering even the slightest bit of explanation, even I would dismiss this as a childish—albeit hilarious—prank. But his letter goes into detail about the tenets of Pastafarianism, all the while parodying intelligent design. As Henderson puts it,

“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.”

His entire purported belief system is a direct parody of something fervently believed by the proponents of intelligent design. The letter became a well-organized and well–fleshed-out internet phenomenon, growing in its hilarious and outlandish beliefs almost daily. The original letter holds that:

“…global warming, earthquakes, hurricanes, and other natural disasters are a direct effect of the shrinking numbers of Pirates since the 1800s.”

They even provide a hilarious graph detailing this phenomenon, which claims that “there is a statistically significant inverse relationship between pirates and global temperature.”

The parody religion has become essential reading for new atheists and agnostics, and I was exposed to it myself during my de-conversion period five years ago. Today, thousands of atheists and agnostics—usually the more internet-savvy types—claim to adhere to the Church of FSM. I write this post today for two reasons: first, Pastafarianism was recently featured on a Darwin Day edition of The Rachel Maddow Show,¹ and because it’s flat-out hilarious. You’ve officially been “touched by His noodly appendage.” RAmen.