The year of our Lord 2005, the prophet Bobby Henderson wrote the sacred commandment to the Kansas State Board of Education. This was the initial attempt to over throw the evil power represents. For too long the Flying Spaghetti Monster has been repressed throughout the years as an extent of religious intolerance from other religions. Religions throughout the world are very intolerant of each other and ultimately are the main cause of a plethora of problems in our society. Bobby was the start of a movement to solve these pressing issues through acceptance, with a dash of satire.

Bobby Henderson was a normal man just out of Oregon State University. He was twenty four years old in 2005. He decided to write a letter to the Kansas State Board of Education regarding the teaching of intelligent design in Biology classes. He used the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster as his main talking point. Bobby "wrote the letter for [his] own amusement as much as anything" (Vergano) and ended up being a hit. The story got out on the internet and quickly became a phenomenon. It was a popular topic on many blogs and quickly gathered a large following. The biggest lure is the overall acceptive nature of the church’s following.

Throughout history a vast majority of wars and disputes can be attributed to religious beliefs. The first religious wars that come to most peoples’ minds would be the crusades. These escapades were bases solely on religious beliefs and a quest for the “Holy Land”. Between both the Islamic and Christian forces up to three million people which would be a staggering two percent of the worlds’ population. A brutally famous war fought over blatant religious beliefs was the Thirty Year War in England from 1618 to 1648. This war was between Protestant and Roman Catholic nations within the Holy Roman Empire. It is thought that between three to twelve million people which would, again be two percent of the world’s population at the time (Religious War). Hitting even more close to home; the war on terror could be traced back to religion. The Islamic Jihads, understood as Holy War, vow to kill “Infidels” in the name of their lord. Their “infidels” is defined as anyone who doesn’t practice their religion, which can connect to the terrorist attacks of 9/11. And I trust the Holocaust is far too infamous to be forgotten. These are only a few of the thousands of wars over religion in history.

In response to these facts, there is a clear solution: Pastafarianism. Henderson said on his own web site for the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster “Anyone and everyone is welcome to join our church including current members of other religions” Showing his and the Church’s open mindedness. And he furthers his statement with “Some Pastafarians honestly believe in the FSM, and some see it as satire. I would just make the point that satire is an honest, legitimate basis for religion. Satire relies on truth to be effective. If it’s a joke, it’s a joke where to understand the punch line you must be conscious of underlying truth” (Henderson). This touches the curiosity of the whole thing being a satire. Religions just need to be more accepting and that would lead to a better standing over all in our ever changing society. Surveys of high school students show that a vast majority, twenty three to three votes, of youth feel that religion has been a leading cause for many historical conflicts. Many of these twenty three went on to present their argument through a short blurbs such as: “Religion is people, and people mess up” or even “People take it too seriously and shove it down other peoples’ throats. This just goes to display the overall mind set of most of the youth in our society. Many seniors in high school responded with negative tens or relatively low numbers in response to a question regarding the passion they felt toward religion. This shows that the phasing out of religion may be starting, however unlikely or slow. Furthermore this adds to the downfall and hatred of the religious factions by many a person. Ultimately religion is hypocritical and Pastafarians avoid that concept as a whole.

People in this world will always have their own opinions and that is wonderfully fine. Although in relation to that, many viewpoints involve the bashing and berating of others at any given moment. It’s absolutely absurd to judge someone only for the way they think or their beliefs. Without knowing a person one should withhold any and all judgments. Play into the cliché of “Don’t judge a book by its cover”. In so many profound ways this is a wonderful philosophy to accept in life. Be proud of who you are and allow for others to be the same. A complete eradication of all religious activities would be a bit rash, but a higher level of respect is definitely required to move a bit more toward an accepting society. Practice the belief system you want but don’t bag on others’ thoughts. Be nice and get to know them and look past exterior beliefs. Prophet Bobby also once said “all are welcome into the loving embrace of His Noodly Appendage.” This shows the way religion should be. The way it is supposedly described to be; Not judging, and kind, supportive and caring and over all a good atmosphere to be a part of. So rather than passing judgment on to others, look at yourself. You need to ask this question: am I a good person and am I caring? If the answer is unclear, or of a step closer you could nothing but fear. Be a part of the change and welcome the embrace of his Noodly Appendage.









Works Cited
Henderson, Bobby. About. 2005. 20 5 2013. <http://www.venganza.org/about/>.
Wikipedia. Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster. 2006. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_Spaghetti_Monster. 20 May 2013.
Vergano, Dan (2006-03-27). ""Spaghetti Monster" is noodling around with faith". USA Today Science & Space article. Retrieved 2007-02-05.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religious_war

Robertson, John M., "A Short History of Christianity" (1902) p.278. Cited by White