Adherents.com has ranked the major religions of the world. What surprises me is that there are only around 500 thousand Scientologists, and that there are more – 600 thousand – Rastafarians in the world. Note that I said Rastafarians, not Pastafarians. Pastafarianism did not make the list, unfortunately.
Now I’m wondering how many Pastafarians there are in the world, and how we’d go about quantifying that. The FSM website has received well over 10 million unique visitors in the last two years. I’m guessing that the number of people vaguely familiar with FSM is in the millions, but that those who consider themselves Pastafarians number only in the tens of thousands. And of those people, I’m guessing that only some of them consider this a legit religion. For others it’s a joke, satire, entertainment, whatever.
I’m wondering how the mainstream religions count members. Do they count only those who truly follow the core beliefs, and disregard those who are there mainly for the social benefits? Or do they count everyone who’s signed up, or possibly those who pay dues?
Is FSM all that different than the other religions? How many Christians Truly Believe the Bible is the Infallible Word of God, and how many are members because they enjoy the social network and lifestyle that being Christian affords them? It seems to me that many Pastafarians enjoy this community, even if they don’t actually believe there is a Flying Spaghetti Monster controlling events around us at will. Of course, many of us do.
The Church of the FSM has no organized registration process – I’ve never liked the idea of it; it seemed too close to what the major religions do… tracking, asking for money – which I’m strongly against. But maybe it’s time for FSM to become more organized. What do you think? What do you want out of FSM?
where’s Gencon
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Yes, Dread Wench, can you please post info about GenCon? Thanks!
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@thesorgo
I sympathise with the situation you’re in. Ever tried explaining to them that the more they force you into it, the more you’ll hate it? Maybe the line ‘Stop nagging or I’ll become a very hardline atheist’ would help. I realise if they are as intimidating as yuo say, that might not be a very effective approach.
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@Sorgo
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I hear you, friend!
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A beady-eyed old lady, with a bible in her hand, that’s brutal!!
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Tell your parents that the Constitution guarantees your right to figure this stuff out for yourself!
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They do you NO FAVORS by forcing you to lie about your profound beliefs.
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Do NOT try to tell them that you have a profound belief that homework sucks!
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Pick your battles, but if this is your profound belief, tell them!!!
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We pasta people support you in your quest for TRUTH.
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@ Dread Wench – “@Rowdier- you so do not need any more heroin. you’re already here like all the time.:)” Wahahahahaha!!!! Yeah, sad isn’t it? Hehehehe. I think the fact that I saw your post just proves your point! Hehehe
But now I’m out the door to martial arts…
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@DutchPastaGuy and Tigerboy
Thanks for the advice
i’ll be using those lines this Sunday
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Another important point may be that you probably (my knowledge of US law on this point is minimal) don’t have to explain yourself as to why you want to drop it. Getting into an argument is probably a lost cause. There’s multiple of them, an alliance of adults arrayed against you. And if they are like some of the religious people here, they’re impervious to any logic anyway, even if you did manage to out-reason them on your own. Can anyone comment on whether a US minor needs to justify his beliefs or lack of them to his parents? If not, then any argument by them could be met with simply
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‘This is an issue on which I don’t need to justify myself to you.’
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‘The Hell you do young man, we are your parents and if you want to leave the church, then you better tell us why first!’
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‘No I don’t. This is an issue on which I don’t need to justify myself to you. I tell you my decision and I’m not debating it with you. It’s my choice and you must accept it.’
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‘How dare you talk bak to us like that!’
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‘Sorry, but I do that because you guys aren’t listening. This is an issue on which I don’t need to justify myself to you.’
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‘If you don’t give us your reasons why you want to leave the church than you can’t leave and have to keep coming.’
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‘No, I’m leaving the church. This is an issue on which I don’t need to justify myself to you.’
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Just keep up the ‘This is an issue on which I don’t need to justify myself to you.’ as answer to everything they throw at you. That is, if you have that freedom. Again, anyone know the situation formally?
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a great pasta dinner.
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@DutchPastaGuy
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You are so right. My parents tried to force me to go to church. I refused at a very early age. Like, before I was 7 or 8.
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You cannot force people to believe in invisible, magical beings.
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Forcing me to pretend like I do believe in invisible, magical beings, is forcing me to lie.
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NO!
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I WON”T LIE!
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It’s a moral issue.
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Isn’t that what I’m supposed to be learning? Morals?
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Yes.
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Then, don’t make me lie.
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We ought to become slightly more organized, take a head count and see just how many of us there are.
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I’m sure that the only reason FSMism has so few member is because it requires a decent internet connection and a good dose of reasoning, not to mention a sense of humour and satire. I don’t know too many people like that, though I’ve converted a good number of my friends, and I think my girlfriend might be seeing the light also.
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Actually, Pastafarians might be classified under the 16% of Nonreligious people, we are after all, a religion based on satire.
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Somebody probably already said this shit, so suck it up and read it anyway,
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-Pope Pixel, the guy with the pie
RAmen
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There is a nice quote from an article (lengthy, haven’t read it yet) about the rise of unbelief on the BBC blog:
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/ni/2007/05/the_landscape_of_unbelief.html
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It seems that some like the Structure and some do not. I myself support the Structure. But I also like Unstructured. Perhaps there could be an Unstructured Pastafarian Structure. We already have one, kinda. Titles represent the Structure, and some Pastafarians have given themselves self-proclaimed titles. Perhaps we could decide upon a Hierarchy of greater and lesser titles. Then, to make it Unstructured, we either completely ignore the Hierarchy or simply choose whatever titles we want (and change them whenever we want). Or both, I suppose.
Simply put, we create a Structure, and those who wish to ignore it may do so, while those who feel the need for some organization may acknowledge its presence. And I think everyone can agree that it will be completely fluid, kinda like the Mongols’ social hierarchy, or so my history book says. Nobility wasn’t hereditary. If a the son of a Noble couldn’t fight, he lost his nobility. Not that Pastafarians will have to fight. I just mean the Structure won’t be solid. (Maybe it wasn’t such a good analogy. Oh well.)
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There’s a guy on here with pie? Thought only wenches had that…
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BCA
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@Aristotle
I think it’s good to know how well people stand with the Church. People who comment more on the website would naturally have a higher rank, unless it was useless spam, and people who engage in conversations and contribute with relevant comments would also have a higher rank.
But, like you said, I think the heirarchy should be totally ignored if you want to.
RAmen
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Pope Pixel, the guy with the pie
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@BCA
I only said that because my title is Pope Pixel the PIE-ous, and it sounds really f*cking catchy!
RAmen
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thesorgo,
We all understand where you’re coming from, and good luck. If they try to intimidate you, remind them that Jesus was a peace-loving man and wouldn’t like them bullying you into belief.
JtP
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I was told I had to talk with the priest about my problem with the Bible…Caine and Abel, not Cain and Mabel….if ya get my drift.
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BCA
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ok…so chat went dead…er thread went dead with my last post.
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Sorry
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BCA
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Hi Again,
Thanks for your encouraging responses folks :)
“…which I interpreted as meaning that he hasn’t believed in a god for 16 of the ?? years of his life.”
You are indeed correct Wench Beth. As regards the ?? years, let’s just say I’ve been atheist way less than half my life so I’m glad I wasn’t sounding like a 16 yr old (sorry if my wording wasn’t clear DuchPastaGuy!
BTW DPG, I followed your link to the BBC article and left a response to it there which I have also copied to http://www.venganza.org/forum/viewtopic.php?p=212935#212935 if anyone would like to comment upon it.
Barti Ddu
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@Noob
Probably was my insufficient mastery of English rather than your phrasing. I have a good excuse for that, see my user name.
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Well done for sounding an atheist voice over on the BBC blog. Some of us occasionally post over there, by all means keep joining us. Or stay over for a bit here on CoFSM.
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Great Idea! I say just DO IT, no matter the method u’ll use, just DO IT! Let’s show the world how many we harrrr!!
I know that the catholic church counts its members through the numbers of baptized people, that’s why the atheist union has promoted in Italy a campaign to Un-baptize yourself if u dont believe anymore.
Some sort of identity verification should be used, at least to avoid criticism and accusations from other churches.
I’ve just un-baptized myself and I’ll be one of the first Pastafarians in Italy!
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I’m curious to see how many of us there are..it certainly would do no harm to get a rough number..
im also curious to see how many Pastafarians there are in my local area..I’ve converted a handful of friends but other than that im surrounded by christians (mostly dogmatic catholics *shudder*)..
I live in Ireland, and as you may be aware the majority of Irish people have a reputation for drinking copious amounts of grog..
to dress in full pirate regalia and consume grog with many Pastafarians would most definitely be a fun activity :)
I want nothing more from FSMism, other than more of an offline community..
thats probably not such a problem in other parts of the world, but apart from the friends I have introduced to FSMism there seems to be a lack of Irish Pastafarians…either that or they’re just elusive :(
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Hello AntiPope, Kra,
There have been posters from Italy and Ireland before. Storm Petrel visits occasionally, he’s from Ireland. I’m in Belfast, there was someone else from here too (Peter Sedgwick) but I haven’t seen him back after a one-time post. And someone posted under the name ‘Irish Pastafarian Army’.
AntiPope, you may want to visit the Irish book pledge page at
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http://www.atheist.ie/common/TDs.htm
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It’s the Irish version of the UK bookpledge, see
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http://www.pledgebank.com/church-and-state
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Kra, you’re one of the first but not the very first from Italy, it has been on the list of countries with Pastafarians for a long time. If anyone sees their country not on the list below, please copy-paste it and add yours.
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It would be nice if we got some more countries on the list. Perhaps some of the smaller ones like Luxembourg or Lichtenstein. Or even better: a poster from the Vatican! We have tons of popes around, so how about it Mr. Ratzinger? You would fit right in.
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Argentina
Australia
Austria
Belgium
Brazil
Britain
Canada
China
Denmark
Finland
France
Germany
Guatemala
Hungary
Iceland
India
Ireland
Italy
Mexico
Netherlands
New Zealand
Poland
Russia
South Africa
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
United Arab Emirates
USA
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Goddam (oh, forgot that I don’t believe in that stuff), put Norway on that list too!
First posting ;)
TRUTH!!
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Oh, do it your self!
Argentina
Australia
Austria
Belgium
Brazil
Britain
Canada
China
Denmark
Finland
France
Germany
Guatemala
Hungary
Iceland
India
Ireland
Italy
Mexico
Netherlands
New Zealand
Norway
Poland
Russia
South Africa
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
United Arab Emirates
USA
Ramen!
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Welcome pasta-viking! Nice user name and thanks for completing all of Scandinavia and making us reach the 30 line. Onto 40 by this time next month I hope.
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@thesorgo
DPG’s answer is probably the wisest course of action. If that fails you could always be a complete tit in the service :)
http://www.comedycorner.org/66.html
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@thesorgo
And don’t forget to post back here to tell us how things turned out.
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Yeah. Especially if you try any of the pranks from the link. Hell, take videos and post links :)
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“16.Make up your own words to the songs.”
I already sing one verse ahead of everyone else
or if there it is a translated song i’ll sing in the original language.
It screws up everyone around me
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hahahaha – I used to love xmas for that. “While shepherds washed their socks by night”
“Oh come all ye faithful!”, “we three kings …..one on a scooter, honking his hooter, smokin’ a fat cigar”
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Ah – class. You’ve either got it or ya haven’t! :)
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I just did a quick search for Pastafarians on my Facebook network and found 29 pages of us, with approx 10 per page.
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@Rowdier- ooooo, martial arts? You’re not becoming a ninja are you? PLEASE ROWDY. THEY ARE COOL BUT THEY ARE THE ANTIPASTA!
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And Gencon is a huge huge HUGE convention. The best 4 days in gaming. But not just gaming, oh no. Fantasy, Sci FI, history, geeks and nerds of all kinds migrate here. I should know. I don’t do gaming (no one to game w/ :( ) but I go there and have a blast. many people come in costume. I put my sis in Klingon jail last time, and there is so very much to do for all kinds of people. Everyone here would love it. It’s always in August in Indianapolis for one weekend (thurs-Sun) and in San Fransisco? some other time in the summer. But come to the Indy one. I’ll be there. :)
Just go to Gencon.com to learn all about and/or preorder tickets.
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Bobby,
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You definitely need to add a formal visitors book where people can record their beliefs.
In the UK we have the census asks religion.
390,000 people (0.7% of respondents including me) put “Jedi” down in the last UK census:
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A4157930
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I sincerely intend to put down “Pastafarian” in 2011.
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Ha – We had the same census question here in Canada last year – I too put Jedi and the next one I will put down Pastafarian – although that will have to wait a few years.
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Til pasta-viking… heisann! Wilkommen til CoFSM!
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To Dread Wench… GenCon sounds exactly like the yearly Star Trek convention in Las Vegas. It’s not for gaming but many people come in costume and it’s awesome! Then there’s ComicCon in San Diego; probably a smaller version of GenCon. I’ve been to that twice.
Indianapolis is pretty far away from me, but you never know! I may show up! :)
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Ûž May 23rd, 2007 at 2:05 pm
“You definitely need to add a formal visitors book where people can record their beliefs.”
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Good idea funky symbol dude :))
We should at least have a prayer book to sign. We need to keep up here. Objective Ministries has one!
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http://htmlgear.tripod.com/guest/control.guest?u=objectiveministries&i=2&a=view
RAmen
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@ Dread Wench – No ninja me!! Karate is my choice. Good for the mind and body…but I will *not* become a ninja, never fear!!
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thank the FSM ^_^
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@ Dread Wench – RAmen!! Been missing you over on the *other* site. Come and play when you get a chance!
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You could count anyone that has posted as a Pastafarian! I know that one debatable religion, known for attacking their former members and detractors, used anyone purchasing their intruduction propoganda (A book, not the bible) as a member.
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Sorry Rowdy! Been so busy my head is going to pop! and finals are next week. And then I have sapce camp, explosive camp, and lifegaurding. I really will try to pop in. Weekend’s not so full! But I have been monitoring cl-l4773r. ^_^
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Though Bobby is not into collecting any donations, this might be a good way to identify Pastafarians willing to put their money where the mouths are (so to speak). How about a PayPal account and a request for anyone wishing to be counted as a Pastafarian to donate $1 (or .5 Euros, or whatever). Then every month or so we could get a count of how many donations have come in to see how many people “we are”. And we could also vote to donate the money to a worthy cause every so often (like the Secular Coalition for America… yeah, America needs it the most I fear… or towards buying a Pirate Ship… One that looks nice… nothing too expensive… Ni!)
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hey, we’re all for a poll and such such. but the day we start doing donations is the day we become like all the other religions, whose primary goal is to raise money.
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@macaroniboy May 24th, 2007 at 11:55 am
“And we could also vote to donate the money to a worthy cause every so often (like the Secular Coalition for America… yeah, America needs it the most I fear… or towards buying a Pirate Ship… One that looks nice… nothing too expensive… Ni!)”
With a shrubbery on the deck of course.
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Definitely. Prayer Book.
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@ Dread Wench – Good luck with everything! :)))
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I have martial arts again tonight (it’s a Tuesday/Thursday thing) so I’d best be getting ready for that…lesson night tonight!!
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@macaroniboy May 24th, 2007 at 11:55 am “…And we could also vote to donate the money to a worthy cause every so often (like the Secular Coalition for America… yeah, America needs it the most I fear… or towards buying a Pirate Ship… One that looks nice… nothing too expensive… Ni!)”
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A Zodiac, perhaps, second-hand from Greenpeace?
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A shrubbery?! Hee hee!!
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