xkcd: Sickness

[bystander]

Sickness

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[emc]

Thanks for posting this Bystander. I relate. Science provides the physical weapons. The spirit (courage) tools come from other people’s help (even remote) and from working within. Anyway, that’s how I read it. A bit more serious than funny.

[neufer]

A Meatball Eclipse on the birthday of the Flying Spaghetti Monster

Touched by His Noodly Appendage

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<<The Flying Spaghetti Monster (FSM) is the deity of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster or Pastafarianism. The central belief is that an invisible and undetectable Flying Spaghetti Monster created the universe "after drinking heavily". According to these beliefs, the Monster's intoxication was the cause for a flawed Earth. Furthermore, according to Pastafarianism, all evidence for evolution was planted by the Flying Spaghetti Monster in an effort to test Pastafarians' faith. When scientific measurements such as radiocarbon dating are taken, the Flying Spaghetti Monster "is there changing the results with His Noodly Appendage".

The Pastafarian belief of Heaven contains a beer volcano and a stripper factory. According to Pastafarian beliefs, pirates are "absolute divine beings" and the original Pastafarians. Furthermore, Pastafarians believe that pirates' image as "thieves and outcasts" is misinformation spread by Christian theologians in the Middle Ages and by Hare Krishnas. Instead, Pastafarians believe that they were "peace-loving explorers and spreaders of good will" who distributed candy to small children, adding that modern pirates are in no way similar to "the fun-loving buccaneers from history". Pastafarians celebrate International Talk Like a Pirate Day on September 19.

Pastafarians celebrate every Friday as a holy day. Prayers are concluded with a final declaration of affirmation, "R'amen" (: a combination of "Amen" and the Sino-Japanese noodle dish, ramen). Other Pastafarian holidays include Ramendan & Pastover. Around the time of Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa, Pastafarians celebrate a vaguely defined holiday named "Holiday". Pastafarians interpret the increasing usage of "Happy Holidays", rather than more traditional greetings (such as "Merry Christmas"), as support for Pastafarianism. George W. Bush's 2005 White House Christmas greeting cards wished people a happy "holiday season", leading Henderson to write the President a note of thanks. (Henderson also thanked Wal-Mart for its use of the phrase.)

A Pastafarian member known as Solipsy collected texts from fellow Pastafarians to compile into the Loose Canon, a Holy Book of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monste. Some excerpts from the Loose Canon include:

• Suggestions 1:1 : “I am the Flying Spaghetti Monster. Thou shalt have no other monsters before Me. (Afterwards is OK; just use protection.) The only Monster who deserves capitalization is Me! Other monsters are false monsters, undeserving of capitalization.”
  
  Slackers 1:51–52: “Since you have done a half-ass job, you will receive half an ass!" The Great Pirate Solomon grabbed his ceremonial scimitar and struck his remaining donkey, cleaving it in two.”

"The Flying Spaghetti Monster" was the brain child of Oregon State physics graduate Bobby Henderson as a satirical protest against the decision by the Kansas State Board of Education to permit the teaching of intelligent design as an alternative to evolution in public schools. In an open letter sent to the Kansas State Board of Education, Henderson parodied the concept of intelligent design by professing belief in a supernatural creator that closely resembles spaghetti and meatballs. Henderson further called for his "Pastafarian" theory of creation to be allotted equal time in science classrooms alongside intelligent design and evolution. He explained that since the intelligent design movement uses ambiguous references to an unspecified "Intelligent Designer", any conceivable entity may fulfill that role, even a Flying Spaghetti Monster.

• “With millions, if not thousands, of devout worshippers, the Church of the FSM is widely considered a legitimate religion, even by its opponents—mostly fundamentalist Christians, who have accepted that our God has larger balls than theirs.I think we can all look forward to the time when these three theories are given equal time in our science classrooms across the country, and eventually the world; One third time for Intelligent Design, one third time for Flying Spaghetti Monsterism, and one third time for logical conjecture based on overwhelming observable evidence.” —Bobby Henderson

According to Justin Pope of the Associated Press, “Between the lines, the point of the letter 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.”

The inclusion of pirates in Pastafarianism was part of Henderson's original letter to the Kansas State Board of Education, in an effort to illustrate that correlation does not imply causation. Henderson presented the argument that "global warming, earthquakes, hurricanes, and other natural disasters are a direct effect of the shrinking numbers of pirates since the 1800s." A chart accompanying the letter (with numbers humorously disordered on the x-axis) shows that as the number of pirates decreased, global temperatures increased. This parodies the suggestion from some religious groups that the high numbers of disasters, famines and wars in the world is due to the lack of respect and worship towards their deity. In 2008, Henderson interpreted the growing pirate activities at the Gulf of Aden as additional support, pointing out that Somalia has "the highest number of Pirates AND the lowest Carbon emissions of any country."

Due to its popularity and media exposure, the Flying Spaghetti Monster is often used as a modern version of Russell's teapot. Proponents argue that, since the existence of the invisible and undetectable Flying Spaghetti Monster—like other proposed supernatural beings—cannot be falsified, it demonstrates that the burden of proof rests on those who affirm the existence of such beings. Richard Dawkins explains, "The onus is on somebody who says, I want to believe in God, Flying Spaghetti Monster, fairies, or whatever it is. It is not up to us to disprove it." Furthermore, according to Lance Gharavi, an editor of The Journal of Religion and Theater, the Flying Spaghetti Monster is "ultimately... an argument about the arbitrariness of holding any one view of creation", since any one view is equally as plausible as the Flying Spaghetti Monster.

In November 2007, four talks involving the Flying Spaghetti Monster were delivered at the American Academy of Religion's annual meeting in San Diego. The talks, with titles like Holy Pasta and Authentic Sauce: The Flying Spaghetti Monster's Messy Implications for Theorizing Religion, examined the elements necessary for a group to constitute a religion. Speakers inquired whether "an anti-religion like Flying Spaghetti Monsterism [is] actually a religion". The talks were based on the paper, Evolutionary Controversy and a Side of Pasta: The Flying Spaghetti Monster and the Subversive Function of Religious Parody, published in the GOLEM Journal of Religion and Monsters. The panel garnered an audience of one hundred of the 9,000 conference attendees, and conference organizers received critical e-mails from Christians offended by it.

In December 2007, the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster was credited with spearheading successful efforts in Polk County, Florida to dissuade the Polk County School Board from adopting new science standards on evolution. The issue was raised after five of the seven board members declared a personal belief in intelligent design. Opponents describing themselves as Pastafarians sent e-mails to members of the Polk County School Board demanding equal instruction time for the Flying Spaghetti Monster. Board member Margaret Lofton, who supported intelligent design, dismissed the e-mail as ridiculous and insulting, stating, "they've made us the laughing stock of the world." Lofton later stated that she had no interest in engaging with the Pastafarians or anyone else seeking to discredit intelligent design. As the controversy developed, scientists expressed their opposition to the claims of intelligent design. Hopes for a new campus focused on applied science at the University of South Florida in northeast Lakeland were reportedly in question, but University Vice President Marshall Goodman expressed surprise, stating, "[intelligent design is] not science.

In March 2008, Pastafarians in Crossville, Tennessee, were permitted to place a Flying Spaghetti Monster statue in a free speech zone on the Courthouse lawn, and proceeded to do so. The display gained national interest on blogs and internet news sites and appeared in Rolling Stone magazine. It was later removed from the premises, along with all other long-term statues, due to an effort sparked mainly by controversy over the statue.>>

[neufer]

Touched by His Noodly Appendage

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<<The Flying Spaghetti Monster (FSM) is the deity of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster or Pastafarianism. The central belief is that an invisible and undetectable
Flying Spaghetti Monster created the universe "after drinking heavily".
According to these beliefs, the Monster's intoxication was the cause for a flawed Earth.

Furthermore, according to Pastafarianism, all evidence for evolution was planted by
the Flying Spaghetti Monster in an effort to test Pastafarians' faith. When scientific
measurements such as radiocarbon dating are taken, the Flying Spaghetti Monster"
is there changing the results with His Noodly Appendage".>>

"As I have heard, Shakespeare, Drayton, and Ben Jonson had a merrie meeting, and
it seems drank too hard, for Shakespeare died of a feavour there contracted" - Reverend Ward, Stratford 1663 diary entry.

Click to play embedded YouTube video.

Click to play embedded YouTube video.

[Beyond]

I think I'll just stick with Prince Spaghetti Day, wednesday. No controversies there --as yet, anyway.