Nick Jones came up with this FSM money stamp. It covers up “In God We Trust” and replaces it with “In Pasta We Trust”. I like it.
Closeup: 
BoingBoing had a post a while ago showing a tiny stamp to strike out the word “God” from paper money:
Which prompted Kim Moser to suggest the following FSM stamp:
Here’s what I want to know: how many people would be interested in a money stamp? We could have them made if there’s enough interest.
The Church of the FSM is always looking for content. Details here
The Church is funded entirely by your purchases of FSM merchandise. Thank you for your support.
Purchase from
Amazon.com
Purchase from BN.com
An elaborate spoof on Intelligent Design, The Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster is neither too elaborate nor too spoofy to succeed in nailing the fallacies of ID. It's even wackier than Jonathan Swift's suggestion that the Irish eat their children as a way to keep them from being a burden, and it may offend just as many people, but Henderson, described elsewhere as a 25-year-old "out-of-work physics major," puts satire to the same serious use that Swift did. Oh, yes, it is very funny. -- Scientific American
Add these buttons to your site:
Bobby's Blog
Contact Bobby: Contact Me
|
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License. This means you're free to use the content but not sell it. More Details |
@caped crusader
.
gracias
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Well said max,
That was pretty funny and where is James. I am a friend too. Ask James about me he got me addicted.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
A terrible insulting joke? because it pokes fun at peoples delusions? what would be better, rounding up the followers and leading a violent crusade? maybe a few burnings, beheadings or hijackings?
.
I utterly refute that it is terrible, i think it’s rather a good way to try and enlighten people. Most people who are insulted are becaue they feel threatened. if their grip on their faith is so tenuous that it can brook no criticism then perhaps they should be doing the questioning not us.
.
better a satirical joke than a pogrom
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Max,
.
I work nights. My son is in school. How is this relevant?
.
Is this how our discussion is going to go? I’m not interested in trading personal barbs. Let’s try to stick to the topic at hand.
.
Please address my question. Why does God need to test us?
.
OEJ
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
“Australian people aren’t too bright either.” Are you supposed to be the standard here?
-
I don’t get it, I really don’t. The almighty FSM is a wonderful bit of satire that shows the true stupidity of both ID and some of the people who support ID. It doesn’t ‘insult’ me at all, and I fail to see how it could ‘insult’ anyone with half a brain in their heads. Lighten up!
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
in this theological set of hoops God is supposed to make us jump through is there grades? A to E perhaps? do you get a better quality of afterlife depending on how you do or is it just pass or fail? heaven or hell? since God already knows the results could we skip the test bi and get to the results? it would save a lot of effort and arguing.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
@gill
.
i guess these people feel it’s their ‘god-given’ right to tell us that we’re all goin to hell for being realistic. the people who support ID are either retarded fundies, power seeking politicians, or some somewhat smart people that want to decieve the public.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Hey Max,
Yesterday One Eyed Jack asked what college you attend. You have yet to tell us.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
@OEJ
The reason god lets satan tempt us is because the whole was to give us a choice. No one is forcing you to belive as we do…we just highly suggest it. If god didn’t give us a choice and just made us do these things, then we would all be slaves to his will, which we aren’t
Amen
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
So Kupo,
You say that “no one is forcing…” Does that mean that fundamentalist parents don’t force their children into the religion they’ve chosen (or been forced into themselves)?
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Kupo,
I still haven’t found anyone who can answer this fundemental dilemma. Is God ominscient? if he is then he already knows what we will do when tested. you can’t have it both ways. if he is omniscient (which conflicts with ominpotent by the way) then he’s a sadist. Someone must have an answer to this. At the moment the best solution to the argument is simply there is no God.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
@farseer
.
so true
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
TO OEJ
I do not attend a college I am in high school.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Max,
Have you been on suspension yesterdy and today? Or do they let you surf the web in class?
.
Nevermind, I’m calling the kettle black. I need to get some work done – I’ll try to chime in again on my lunch hour.
.
May his Noodly Grace bless my work and help make me more productive (so I can get off of work early and have a beer.)
RAmen
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
@ Spider
.
‘Is God ominscient? if he is then he already knows what we will do when tested. you can’t have it both ways. ‘
.
Calvin tried this one. Having established the theocracy of Geneva, he realised that his interpretation that god already knows who’s saved and who’s damned didn’t give people an incentive to behave. If it’s all about getting to heaven but nothing you do matters, then it’s rape and pillage all the way. So, he proposed the following: god may already know his Elect few, but if you belong to them, then you are probably *able* to behave in a godly way. So, you should all *try* to be good, and if you manage it, then you can take that as evidence of your salvation. Moral behaviour is therefore encouraged, but reduced to nothing more than an experimental method for assessing one’s probability of being on god’s good side.
.
And religion is supposed to give you *simple* answers. Sheesh.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Kupo,
.
Max said “The reason the [sic] allows tempation is becuase he is testing us to see if we are truely love him”.
.
This is the test I am refering to. Max’s words. Not mine.
.
You are correct, God does give us a choice. Obey or be punished. You can distill the entire bible to this single choice. Everything is just filler.
.
OEJ
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
God gives a choice for everything we do.
AMEN
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Well, personally, I think that James, Max and Batman are all pretty bright for high school kids. They’re not anywhere near in the league of Gill, but still pretty impressive.
Batman — if you think that there is evidence of the parting of the sea, then please give us the study linking the evidence to the story in the Bible. I am sure there is a Nobel in it for you.
Max — “the devil made me do it” is almost as laughable as “God did it”. Neither are believable and lack any sort of credibility. Take some personal responsibility for your actions and your place in the universe. Geesh.
James — evolution has mounds of evidence. It is the evangelicals in the world who just refuse to believe it. I’d rather place my bet that the scientists have it right since they are the ones doing the research and publishing the studies in credible professional journals.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
to oej
that my friend is not true, the bible contains many words of wisdom (book of proverbs) as well as true stories about people who doing great thingS for God.
AMEN
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
@ Caped Crusader (Dec 8th, 2006 at 8:27 am)
.
‘You will be happy to know that I don’t really believe in God, but I more or less support the idea.’
.
Oddly enough, to a small extent, so do I. I can see how the idea of god can motivate people and make them happier. But I object very strongly to the big problem with this, which is that religions tend inevitably to then use god’s (made up) will in place of humanistic morality. If religion did nothing more than give people a warm cuddly feeling, that’d be fine. But it just ain’t so, is it?
.
‘FSM is a joke, a terrible, insulting joke.’
.
Now, *I* think that the FSM is a very important, very timely joke, though I can see why you feel the way you do. But don’t forget that Bobby came forward with the FSM as a response to a specific event. He didn’t just conjure it up as a way of offending religious people. It was presented as an acute satirical argument against the (completely unjustifiable) teaching of Intelligent Design as science, alongside (or in place of) evolution.
.
The FSM, then, wasn’t put forward to stamp on people’s warm cuddly private religious feelings. It was a response against a very worrying example of religious persuasions taking over from education and intellectual honesty. Yes, it may be taken as insulting, but some insults are actually worth making.
.
If more moderate, less foolish believers are also offended by the FSM, then that’s kind of a shame, but it has to be taken as an inevitable hazard of believing something which really appears to be completely bogus. If a religious person looks around themselves clearly, they’re going to find a lot of straightforward facts of reality that insult their faith. Reality is not therefore at fault.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Max,
.
Sorry for the misunderstanding. When you asked the question “…are you even in college?” and later said that you are a sophomore, we made the incorrect assumption that you are in college.
.
Is our discussion over or do you intend to answer my question?
.
Why does God need to test us to know we love him?
.
OEJ
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Arius,
.
Wisdom maybe, but still fluff.
.
None of it matters if you make the choice to disobey God. Wise sinners burn in hell alongside fools and foolish saints pass through the pearly gates as easily as sages.
.
The only choice that matters to God is whether you obey or not.
.
OEJ
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
@ Arius (Dec 8th, 2006 at 9:14 am)
.
‘the bible contains many words of wisdom’
.
The complete works of Shakespeare contain many words of wisdom. Shakespeare was not god (though he came pretty close).
.
‘as well as true stories about people who doing great thingS for God.’
.
True stories about people doing great things for god? True. And who needs stories? I *know* people who have done great things thanks to their belief in god. And I could find loads more in a quick internet trawl. But that doesn’t mean that god exists.
.
At best, it might mean that belief in god is quite a productive thing to have in your mind. Here’s a parallel. After a particularly bad performance in an acting nightclass, the next week I spent the drive there convincing myself that I was the best actor in the world and that I was attending in order to give everyone else a lesson. Needless to say, I did a sterling job and the customary show of hands at the end of the lesson revealed that I was populary considered to have managed the best performance in the class that week.
.
I am not the best actor in the world. I may not even be the best actor in my bedroom – and there is no one else *in* my bedroom. But I made myself feel it to be true, and that feeling was very helpful to me. A friend of mine spent a year in South Africa caring for AIDS infected orphans who died as quickly as she could bond with them. She went in the belief that god wanted her to and she was supported throughout by that belief. Belief in god has led her to do wonderful things. But this no more means that there is a god than my successful acting lesson makes me Marlon Brando. It simply means that belief in a god who supports your moral system can make you a more active, successful and happy embodiment of that moral system.
.
If you want to know whether god exists, you won’t find proof in people’s readiness to believe in him or in the power of those beliefs. There you’ll find only proof of belief, and of the power of belief. Belief is everywhere, obvious, and quite explainable. God appears to be none of these things.
.
RAmen
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
@Farseer
I can’t fix the problems of fundamentalist’s children, there gunna have to figure that out for themselves, by “no one”..I meant on this site
just saying…this is actually james… I had to change my name for certain reasons
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
TO OEJ
I’m sorry that you have a misunderstanding of the Christian faith, many people who are not a Christian think that you only achieve entry into heaven by good works, this is not true (it used to be in the Catholic church but their veiws have slightly reformed) when Jesus died on the cross, he made it possible to just aski him to come into your heart.
So in order to get into heaven you just have to ask Jesus into your heart. Everyone sins that why you must ask God for his forgiveness.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
@ Whoever thinks I’m in Highschool
I do not pass judgement on lesser or imcompetent people. I do not attend High school but I am flattered that you regard me as smart. Oh and when I said “Australian people aren’t too bright either.†It was a joke, just like your petty religious views. Thanks for the flattering comments. I really do think that James and Max a bright, blessed children. And as for the proof of the parting of the Red Sea: I said that they found chariots and weaponry from the Egyptian army at the bottom of the sea. The Egyptians rarley traded over open water and lacked the sailing skills necessary to do so. It is hardly probable that the Egyptians would have attempted to move an entire army across the water, eliminating the possibility of a sinking ship. This isn’t proof, but it merely implies that the story has credibility. And I also said before that the Egyptians recorded that the Nile turned red. All biblical stories that have their base in fact.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
I’ll be signing off for about 45 minutes. Save your arguments until then please. Where is that Australian Girl!!
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
TO CAPED CRUSADER
WHat are your views in this dicussion?
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
@ Caped Crusader (Dec 8th, 2006 at 8:08 am)
.
Thanks for responding to me.
.
‘This could be a coincidence but they also wrote that the nile turned red. Gee thats hard to explain. Why would they write that unless it was true.’
.
We could think of various reasons why they might write something down that wasn’t true, but before we do so, here’s a bigger point: we don’t even have to.
.
People are always writing things down that aren’t true. Sometimes this is deliberate fiction, like novels. Sometimes it’s people reporting something untrue that they’ve been told and have mistaken for truth. Sometimes it’s because people misunderstand their own experiences and give an accidentally false report. And sometimes it’s a deliberate lie.
.
All of us have experience of reading things that aren’t true. All of us are, for example, used to the idea that ‘we shouldn’t believe what we read in the newspapers’ – and the newspapers are explicitly *supposed* to be true.
.
Therefore, even if we don’t know the reason thousands of years later, it’s quite easy to imagine that the writers of an old historical or religious book might have written things that aren’t true. (After all, any religious person will regard the books of other religions as full of untruths.) On the other hand, it’s much harder to imagine things happening that have never been reliably witnessed by any living person.
.
So, if I send you a letter telling you that I can eat steel and spit girders, you are going to be sceptical. If I go on to tell you that you’d damn well better believe me or you’re going to hell, you’ll find me amusing, offensive, worrying or all three.
.
As for the red Nile – odd things do happen in nature, you know. Could be something so unremarkable as reddish silt from a particularly impressive sandstorm (the sort of storm that might also blot out the sun, resulting in a period of darkness, incidentally). The ancient Egyptians certainly weren’t armed with the scientific knowledge we have today, but they’d surely have been just as superstitious as we are. If a couple of bad things happened (a nasty skin disease going around, a swarm of locusts and so on), it would be easy for them to decide that they were in some way cursed – especially if their slaves took the opportunity to play on their conscience and stoke their superstition. Once in this mode of thinking, the supertitious human mind actively seeks more evidence. ‘A sandstorm – more proof of our curse! The river runs red [as it probably had done before after sandstorms in the past] – also symbolic of god’s displeasure!’ And so on.
.
‘And archaeologists have found chariots and military equipment at the bottom of the sea. A sign that the water did part.’
.
Hmm. Sometimes people put chariots and military equipment in boats, you know.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
@Kupo
“I can’t fix the problems of fundamentalist’s [sic] children, there gunna [sic] have to figure that out for themselves”
.
So you write them off as lost, yet come here and try to “fix” our “problems” instead? That’s mighty big of you.
.
(Sorry, couldn’t resist – back to work now.)
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
“So in order to get into heaven you just have to ask Jesus into your heart. Everyone sins that why you must ask God for his forgiveness.”
.
Oh dear. This brings up that pesky burning baby bit. If babies die before asking Jesus into their hearts then they go to hell, right? Those poor burning screaming babies.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
arius,
.
I do not have a misunderstanding of the Christian faith, but we certainly have differing understandings of the Christian faith. You need go no further than the many opposing sects of Christianity to see that there is no single, uniform view of Christianity even among Christians.
.
You write: “many people who are not a Christian think that you only achieve entry into heaven by good works, this is not true … when Jesus died on the cross, he made it possible to just aski him to come into your heart. So in order to get into heaven you just have to ask Jesus into your heart.”
.
So, are you saying that I don’t have to obey God? All I need to to is ask Jesus/God into my heart and then go do whatever I feel like? I can ask Jesus into my heart, go suicide bomb a school bus, and then enter heaven? No, I don’t think you are saying that.
.
So, I think you are being disingenuous. Asking Jesus into your heart is central to Christianity, but obeying Jesus/God’s laws is still required.
.
Jesus provides a more expedient method of forgiveness, but the central tenant is always obey or be punished.
.
OEJ
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
@ Caped Crusader,
.
I just read your more recent further points about the parting of the Red Sea. Two things:
.
As before, which is less unlikely?:
.
(a) That the Egyptians did, for some military reason, decide to transport some military equipment by sea, and that they lost some ships in the process. This is something they certainly could have done if they wanted, and that nations all over the world have experienced at some point. If they were inexperienced at such endeavours, they’re even more likely to have cocked it up and lost some ships. If they did indeed have a disastrous time of it, they’d probably not try the same trick again – which further backs up the point about them avoiding sea faring.
.
(b) That the Red Sea actually parted, that the Jews crossed it (and didn’t sink into the sea bed), that the Egyptians followed them and that the ocean crashed together again – an event completely unwitnessed in reliably recorded human history.
.
By the way, sea storms can be pretty bad. If the Egyptians tried to transport their army by sea and ran into a really bad one (who knows? Maybe waterspouts, the works), without any scientific understanding of the conditions, they’d be very likely to view it in such poetic terms as ‘the sea parting’. We talk about tsunami as ‘a wall of water’ and downpours of rain as ‘the heavens opening’ after all. The Egyptians wouldn’t forget a disaster like this, and would tend even to exaggerate it, and its significance, in their recollections over time. It is to be expected that a tale like this might become combined with a similar one of hubris and cataclysm, like the plagues discussed earlier. All good story telling (a major part of history.)
.
Second thing: Let’s say that the sea really did crash in and cover a land army. I don’t know anything about the geological history of the area, but there has been talk of something fairly similar(ish) happening when Great Britain was separated from Europe (maybe). Perhaps it’s possible that some kind of natural barrier broke, releasing a whole lot of water. I haven’t a clue. What I’m saying is, if there are geological reasons that might explain something to our reasonable satisfaction, that’s great, and we might prefer these to accounts that differ from the bible story even more greatly (like the sea crossing). But none of these are going to come close to the big, resounding ‘God did it’. For god to have done it, we need some sign of *god*. And, lo and behold, after all this time, we’re still waiting.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
@farseer
Never once did I say I “wrote these people off as lost” I just simply don’t know very many fundamentaists at the moment, we don’t codemn or give up on anyone
Amen
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
@one oared Marc
God says in the bible(dont exactly remember the exact spot) that those who are to young to think for themselves are exepmt from that
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
I’m back on suckas. Where are you Australian girl!
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Again the Crusader is seeing Christ’s face in a piece of toast. There are many explanations for why the melting butter looks like Jesus other than it IS Jesus.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Kupo, you need to remember where the Bible says this. The Catholics don’t seem to think this is so. That is why they developed the notion of limbo. I love the notion of an exemption. Any other folks who are exempt? How about physically or mentally impaired people? Jews? Muslims? No, they worship something other than Jesus so they are all going to hell even though they are Abrahamic.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
a word of wisdom from jesus
.
‘i know that thou somehow love the fact i died for your sins. however, thou shall not love that much. if thou do that, then i condemn you as a scary mother fucker. also, thou was not there and probably really doesn’t know what really happened. also, where are thou the remains of thy arc. if it were to house thy dinosaurs, then it must have been pretty fucking big. something that big can’t just exist and leave no trace. and the lord jesus now hath say, thou should not love me too much, for it leads you to go against thy teachings.”
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Kupo,
You say that you don’t know very many fundamentalists at the moment. I’m sure you have a mirror nearby. Anything shiny, really.
.
And don’t tell me you’d raise a child without trying to teach that child what you believe. If you’re willing to go out of your way to try convincing complete strangers of some great magic man in the sky watching your every move, then certainly won’t take it lightly if your own child denounces your beliefs. I highly doubt you’d let your child or children “figure it out for themselves”.
.
Completely off topic: alas, I’m going out for lunch and they serve no pasta where I go. Aarrrr. May my wait for pasta and beer be brief.
RAmen.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
if thou don’t like me, i go cry to me daddy
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Jesus Fucking Christ! I don’t sign on for a day or so and look what happens!!
.
@ Jon E: ‘You’d think that these fundies couldn’t find anything better to do with their lives than give us someone to humiliate.’
.
Just think of all the opportunities they are missing for doing true Christian good works, like bullying gays and Wiccans or molesting children. We must have them pretty worked up.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
I do not see the lords face in a piece of toast. I merely suggested that some biblical accounts have credibility. These stories have far more credibility than those of your FSM.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
We are not prejudice against any nationality or person. If you got a satanist on here I would gladly tell them that God and I both love them. No I don’t think your going to hell for making this site or being on it or even arguing for this spaghetti thing…whats so repulsive about this religion of mine?..One, obey the ten commandments, well thats not so hard. Two, Love god…wow..thats not so hard either.
Woah there Fr. C.C., I think that statement was a bit unecessary….slow down turbo
Amen
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
@One oared marc
You seem to be quick to judge. I am not a strong believer in god. In fact I am not sure that I really believe in god, but I do like the idea. Because I am not religious I am not looking for miracle everyday. I would never see the lords face in a piece of toast. Thanks you insolent prick.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
@Fr. C.C.
You’d think these guys on here would have something better to do than reply to us “fundies”
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
and whats up with this “fundi” thing….thats almost more annoying than hearing people say “noobs”
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
@ OEJ
Do you really have one eye? Is there a story behind it. Do you look like a pirate?
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
yes where is my old pal one eyed jack…I miss our debates
In case anyone didn’t see…this is James
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
jeez…didn’t mean to kill the conversation or anything
Like or Dislike:
0 
0