The Michigan Tech University Pastafarian club has been the victim of harassment even before their first meeting. The MTU Lode reports:
Two individuals are currently undergoing disciplinary procedures through the Dean of Students Office after an investigation by MTU Public Safety determined that they posted a threatening message on the door of the President and Vice President of a recently-formed student organization called the Pastafarian Club.
Some background on the MTU Pastafarian club’s leaders:
According to the president of the Pastafarianism Club, Matt Halberstad–who identifies as agnostic–the group is a parody “religion.” But the group’s purpose isn’t to attack religion, and one would be hard-pressed to find a member of the group who truly believes in their parody deity–the Flying Spaghetti Monster.
The vice president of the Pastafarian Club, Steven Wheeler–who is atheist–believes that Henderson’s argument boils down to the main belief of the Michigan Tech chapter of the Pastafarians: creationism, whether or not one believes in it, is not a science, and should not be taught in a science classroom.
I agree with that, but there are people - maybe not in this particular club - who do truly believe in the FSM. Also, I want to make the point that there are plenty of Christians who are members of the Christian religion without truly believing in the deity God/Jesus.
The harassment was hateful, not unlike some of the messages I receive. In part, the message said:
they [Pastafarians] should be shot and hanged from the tallest redwood and then thrown to the raging sea.
The individuals who left the hate messages were caught and are now facing a hearing:
The Bias-Related Harassment and Violence section of MTU’s Code of Community Conduct covers threats due to one’s “race, ethnicity, national origin, disability, religious or cultural identity, sexual orientation, gender-identity or gender.” The penalties for violating the Bias-Related Harassment and Violence section range from disciplinary probation to expulsion.
The outcome of this will be very interesting. Even if the death threats were not meant to be taken seriously, they were still hateful messages directed at members of a religious group on campus. What if the harassment had been instead directed at an Islam club? I strongly suspect the kids would be expelled.
I wonder if the school admins are willing to make the statement that Pastafarians deserve less protection against religious harassment than other mainstream religions.
That said, I don’t think these kids should be expelled. But it would upset me if a Pastafarian organization received less protection than another religious organization (or any other organization).
I guess we’ll see what happens.
Read more about it here.
I don’t think it fair that just because Pastafarianism is a ‘made-up religion’ (N/B the ’s) should mean that the followers of this great religion should have any less rights that someone of another religion. And besides, someone made up Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, Sikhism…
Oh my!
I can understand if someone is against something and if they protest it, (duh=fsm) but threatening to kill a person is insane.
Crazy crazy crazy people.
Aren’t all religions made up? I thought they were all products of somebody imagination.
It’s about time people have realized religion is, in fact, a huge joke.
How dare they threaten even lowly leaders in our wonderful religion! I believe in the Flying Spaghetti Monster and HIS words, but there are time when I wish that HE would use his noodly appendage to crush throse who threaten and intimidate us. However, I know that this is not HIS way and respect that and I will continue to follow HIS Gospel.
One day these blind ones will be able to see again, for they will be touched by his noodly appendage like we all have been and rejoice with the pirates and midgets.
At least the harrassers were semi-poetic in their message…
Leave them alone! The FSM or it’s followers haven’t done them any harm! Why are people so small-minded?
Some people really need to give Pasta a chance. How can there be any hate when you have Pasta? :)
I feel for my fellow Pastafarians, although I am concerned at no mention of Pirate outfits - perhaps this is why His tendrils of durham based benevolence did not envelope them?
Anyway, fortunately, since the population in the UK is now made up almost exclusively of Pastafarians, I am able to worship his noodly magnificence without interference from slack-jawed non-believers.
Awful, but not surprising.. Who will be the first martyr, one wonders..
It is not the FSM they are attacking - it is the dange to them that Pastafarians pose to their belief system.. IF they REALLY KNEW that THEY had the truth, then they would just laugh at our folly.. The Truth though, is that they ALL KNOW that their belief is UNFOUNDED and UNTRUE.
“Let us hope he is wrong, and if he is not wrong, let us hope he is not believe” - Words said by a Bishops wife when Darwins Theory was published.
They do NOT want to hear the truth, They want unrestrained freedom to promote their lies… They have murdered people for centuries in order to sustain their freedom to promote their lies.. They will NOT stop now!
May the FSM (and the law enforcement agencies) protect us all!
This… truly goes to show that no matter how Young a religion might be (Faux or otherwise) there are always going to be the bigger and more agressive religions to try to make it seem heathen or something like that.
Truth be told, I don’t actually believe the FSM exists, HOWEVER I do believe that it is a clever and well thought out satire on how actual religions behave these days, and doesn’t order its members to commit acts of violence or hatred against another religion for being who they are. Thats why I concider myself Half Atheist, Half Pastafarian.
Besides… who can resist the call of HEAVENLY beer volcanoes :D
Ra’men
Hey Alex (UK), how do you like not having any guns? How about that knife ban? And the porn ban? And what about Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles? Is it the same as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles? What does the Labour Party have against ninjas? How do you like being watched by cameras 24/7? Do chavs really beat up old ladies? If so, how often? I heard parliament was planning on imposing drinking restrictions? Is that really true?
I’m rather curious. All that I know about the UK is from the internet.
I kind of like having knives, porn, guns and alcohol, even though I don’t drink. I don’t know what your government has against them. It’s not like alcohol forces you to drink it. In free countries, people are responsible for their own actions and lives. I don’t need or want my government to protect me from myself.
Good luck to you brother. Ramen.
Omg all I can say is laugh. out. loud. And seriously, why all the hate non-believers?
thank you guys for being a beacon of sanity in an insane world. i can’t believe in this day and age that so many people are still caught up in superstition, religion and magical thinking. as long as such backwardness prevails we will never be anything more than cavemen with some cool techie toys. and we will never get beyond hatred and war. keep up the good work!
Let’s face it, this is not a religion but a parody so if some of you really believe fine. But those of you that don’t then how can you make a demand for protection of a religion. Some people have been pegged to die for their choice of religion like those being persecuted in China. They are being viscerated for their belief and their organs are being sold to the black market for a horrendous profit. That truly is unfair. So poking fun with the pasta religion may seem fun but remember we are in times when people are dying for their religion.
Our lives our but a web we weave until all the innocent jokes turns into an all out war. And we are in constant conflict over things that are said as a joke. we all will see where the party and play get us maybe you will end up in a pasta spagetthi bowl or in a giant gas chamber when you die or in a fury of hellion hellraisers that pound down margaritas and drink spiked kool aid with cynide. Who knows. Maybe at the moment of death our last thought will be our thouhgts for all eternity. But the hate of another is the only fuel will have for the moment. Until mormons and muslims can pray together along the jew and pastafarains we have a long way to go for world peace.
Pastafarianism is as much a religion as any other. Unless someone has some secret empirical evidence they’re not sharing, I think you’d have a hard time proving the FSM is any less real than Christ, Allah, Mohammed, Ganesh, Zeus or Thor.
The tired old claim by the big players that any new belief is wrong-headed, made-up, comical, insincere or even satanically inspired, have been used since time immemorial to squash ‘upstart’ sects and preserve their own hegemony. From Gnosticism, Baha’i, and Kaballah to the Universal Life Church, the immediate response to any new church or religion is “It’s not true, it’s not, it’s not, it’s not!”
Encarta defines a religion as:
1. people’s beliefs and opinions concerning the existence, nature, and worship of a deity or deities, and divine involvement in the universe and human life.
2. an institutionalized or personal system of beliefs and practices relating to the divine.
3. a set of strongly-held beliefs, values, and attitudes that somebody lives by.
4. an object, practice, cause, or activity that somebody is completely devoted to or obsessed by.
Pastafarianism would appear to qualify on all counts.
If this was “The Force”, those hateful anti-Pasatfarians would already be disintegrated.
Pastafarianism is just as valid a religion as Christianity. That is, neither can prove anything they say is true. They just have “faith.” This “faith” is the force that causes people to know things are true without any actual evidence. This is a core element in all religion. Some might call it madness, but that depends on your definition of madness. Wikipedia describes psychosis as this:
“Psychosis is a generic psychiatric term for a mental state often described as involving a “loss of contact with reality.” People suffering from it are said to be psychotic.”
And it goes on to say…
“However, most people have unusual and reality-distorting experiences at some point in their lives, without being impaired or even distressed by these experiences. For example, many people have experienced visions of some kind, and some have even found inspiration or religious revelation in them. As a result, it has been argued that psychosis is not fundamentally separate from normal consciousness, but rather, is on a continuum with normal consciousness. In this view, people who are clinically found to be psychotic may simply be having particularly intense or distressing experiences (see schizotypy).”
And on psychotic delusions it says…
“One important and puzzling feature of psychosis is usually an accompanying lack of insight into the unusual, strange, or bizarre nature of the person’s experience or behaviour. Even in the case of an acute psychosis, people may be completely unaware that their vivid hallucinations and impossible delusions are in any way unrealistic. This is not an absolute, however; insight can vary between individuals and throughout the duration of the psychotic episode.”
According to Wikipedia’s definition of psychosis, all people who have this “faith” are suffering from a form of psychosis. Pastafarians are no more mad than Christians, and therefore should be treated equally in the eyes of law. Of course, this only applies in a government where law is expected to give all people equal treatment (”We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal…”) However, if the government is not expected to do this in the case of religion (as in, it has an established religion or religions) then there is no reason why they shouldn’t treat Christians or Muslims differently than Pastafarians.
Lis,
I hope you are not serious. We are take ourselves to seriously at times.