I wrote the Open Letter sometime around January of 2005 and posted it online several months later after receiving no reply from the Kansas School Board. Within days of posting it online, the letter became an internet phenomenon, generating tens of thousands of visits each day, as well as personal responses from the school board members themselves. To date (August 2006), the venganza website has received upwards of 350 million hits, and somewhere in the proximity of 15 million unique visits. This website operates on a dedicated server and uses 600 – 800 GB/month in bandwidth. I’ve received over 15,000 emails in response to the letter.
The letter, after being blogged heavily for months, was printed in several large newspapers, including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Chicago Sun Times, and many others. The newspaper articles caught the attention of book publishers, and at one point there were six publishers interested in getting the Word of the Flying Spaghetti Monster out to the public. In the end, the Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster was released by Random House in March of 2006.
It’s now been over a year since the FSM phenomenon started. I hope that a year from now we will be recognized as a legitimate religious organization, with all the same benefits *and tax loopholes* that the mainstream religions enjoy.
Please leave me a comment on the Letter, the FSM movement as a whole, or whatever you like. Thanks,
-Bobby
Yoyoman,
I don’t know how the theologists of Pastafarism will choose to answer your particular question but as for me, i don’t really see the problem…
Not being able to see or represent the FSM doesn’t mean He doesn’t exist. Marco Polo should (and i hope will) one day be considered either a prophet, an apostole or a saint of Pastafarism for he did bring back from China the means to embody His Noodliness in the material world and thus is responsible for spreading it in the old continent first and the world afterwards….
Ramen.
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#3540
If god created us in his image. Yet humans have only been around for half a million years. Coincidence?
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well written his noodlieness would be proud
RAmen
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What the fuck is wrong with you guys? Were you so bored that you chose the most inane form of comparison, abeit amusing, in order to attack belief systems by highlighting paticular flaws within them – This is offensive, pointless and lacks any basis. Go shoot yourself and assist natural selection, Pastafarianianism AND the sanity of the world.
=Kevin 2011
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All hail FSM! Heretics shall be boiled until done!
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Some Christians believe the world was created in 4004 B.C.
However, the graph relating global warming to pirate abundance clearly shows that the world began in 1820. Therefore, evolution is equally as false as the American Revolution and the events of 1776. Thomas Jefferson and John Adams were created in 1820, just six years before their deaths, but with memories implanted of having been America’s founding fathers and former Presidents. Anyone who says anything about how America was “founded” is clearly wrong, as America was not founded, but was created by the FSM.
RAmen.
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Well done! You almost have it right.
In actuality, God created the Flying Spaghetti Monster to create the world in a way to convince us that observable evidence and the theory of evolution is the way it all came to be. All three theories can co-exist and are not mutually exclusive of each other… and they work together because they are all true.
Finally, dressing like pirates is a must to save the planet from global warming… show you care… it’s pirate time.
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If the FSM is real, and I’m not saying he isn’t, then why do we have Crohn’s Disease, what about the gluten free folks ? Or Vegans, No egg noodles, and defo not meatballs! Can we have any gravied images or idols before him?What if I like gnocci? Or spaatzle? As a child growing up in Iowa, we had a wonderful idol called Playtime Poppy( a giant ear of popcorn) Hey it was Iowa in the age before google, heck almost before hand calculators! Let’s just keep an open mind to all possibilities that we may not have evolved by chance.thank you, SGIP(Soylent green is people)
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WHAT THE FUCK! This is a bullshit joke right?
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@ 3490 – Lisa the Pirate – Jul 30th, 2009 Thank you for your enlightened views regarding spelling! I am new to FSM(but so happy to be Pastafarian) but I am a terrible speller (thank FSM for spell check), because English spelling is so inconsistent. (As with words like tough and stuff, or through and stew, or four and for.) So anyway I love FSM and have found great joy and hilarity on this site, and thanks for the views on spelling! Also, there are a lot of ways to spell Pirate words.
Raman!
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#3554 Don, Don, Don…you one of them thar southern babtists? “Cause you shore sound like one of em. (Im surrounded by them!) “If’n it dont agree wit our wayz of thinkin, shoot it!
Take a chill pill bubba. I dont see this as offensive or pointless, and we damn sure have a point. Could be maybe, you just dont get it? So run along, try some deep thinking exercises before y’all come back now… hear?
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Interested in where to invest money? Then, MMCIS investment fund is what youneed.
MMCIS Investement Fund will let you receive high profits and reduce risks. MMCIS investments Investment Fund is an active participant of innovative tendencies of investing in USA.
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Well done! You almost have it right.
In actuality, God created the Flying Spaghetti Monster to create the world in a way to convince us that observable evidence and the theory of evolution is the way it all came to be. All three theories can co-exist and are not mutually exclusive of each other… and they work together because they are all true.
Finally, dressing like pirates is a must to save the planet from global warming… show you care… it’s pirate time.
Samson, you’ve got it right. While there may be an International Talk Like A Pirate Day, I think we should have an International Talk, Walk, and Dress Like A Pirate YEAR!! We could donate Piratey Costumes to those less fortunate than us, and by the end of the year, the Global Temperature would have shrunk so much that we would all be coverd by glaciers :D
Also, to those Christians who say we have gone mad, none of us truley BELIVE. . . apart from our version of the JIHADISTS!!!!!!!!!!
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@3558 DZier,
The answer to all your questions is really quite simple: the FSM likes to drink. This means that sometimes his creations come out a little, shall we say, different. However, because He is relaxed (see the aforementioned reference to drinking) he doesn’t mind if people worship him in their own way, be it vegan, gluten-free, etc… Also, he doesn’t mind it at all if you “keep an open mind”; in fact, he enjoys it. The FSM does not send people to Hell just for not believing in him, unlike certain other deities I could name *cough*.
Ramen,
Sarah
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So, Don #3554 thinks the gene pool would be best served by eliminating all free-thinkers. You popped out of a pod one night, didn’t you, Don?
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@ 3554 – Don – ,
I should point out to you that you have come here to our website; we have not gone to yours.
Our mission is to prevent the inclusion of religious mythology of any kind in the public school science curriculum. Our theology is satire, pure and simple. It is derivative of, and depends on, no other faith or religion. We would be most honored if it were compared favorably to that of Johnathan Swift.
If you would please read the Open Letter and the material at the “About Tab”, as you were clearly urged to do when you came onto this site, you would have a much clearer idea of what you’ve gotten yourself into.
Do you know why you believe whatever it is that you do believe ?
http://www.sciam.com/podcast/episode.cfm?id=why-people-believe-what-they-do-09-04-10&sc=DD_20090413
RAmen
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Definitely, people have lost their mind! Flying Spaghetti whatever?!
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you are retarded, no seriously dude, monster? spaghetti? did you get your head slammed in a car door as a kid? get with the program dude, there are other serious religions out there fight for something real instead of something i am going to pick up when i get off work for dinner.
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I am converted. Brilliant!!
RAmen
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@ 3568 – Spike – ,
Please define for me what a “real” religion is. Please do not give any examples. Just list the parameters that any real religion has.
Remember that you believe what you believe because it’s what your parents, priest, or minister told you to believe:
http://www.sciam.com/podcast/episode.cfm?id=why-people-believe-what-they-do-09-04-10&sc=DD_20090413
RAmen
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lol, amazing. very well written. thank you for writing this.
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Spike (#3568): What exactly is a “serious” religion?
Could it be one that launches Crusades or Inquisitions like Christianity?
One that engenders suicide bombers like radical Islam?
Perhaps one that requires tons of money to recognize the invisible aliens clinging to you like Scientology?
I know! It’s Santeria! Now where did that sacrificial chicken run off to?
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Don, now Spike…methinks we are suffering from systematic drive by’s. Isnt that cute? Ill bet you there are some x-tian rubes giggling away in a basement somewhere at their brillian plan.
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I AM the Flying Spaghetti Monster. I AM the noodly Lordship they speak of. This IS all true. Those who do not believe will still be loved, yet must be punished severeley. To those who are of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, congradulations, you will be amoung the first to sit by my spaghetti sauce covered throne. Be weary however, every action you make, every thought you think, it is ALL being watched by may noodly goodness and if you should somehow slip in you actions or thoughts I will know and I may have to punish you. But for now all believers keep up the spectacular work and wonderful thoughts of praise coming. To all nonbeliever you will soon all be converted to Flying Spaghetti Monsterism. Whether you want to or not.
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Dude, you are a bloody genius. And to all those ‘offended’ people out there, who are you to deign Pastafarianism any less valid than whatever religion you hold? Both are based on unscientific ‘proofs’ and faith.
RAmen
A newly converted Pastafarian
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Fellow Believers:
We are at risk of attack by the heathens. Given the increase of pirates (off the coast of Africa) WITHOUT a concurrent drop in global temperature, we all must pray for our God to reveal the explanation to one of us (preferably one of us who looks best in pirate regalia and has some media training). We also might want to look for hidden encoded messages in our writings while we are at it.
The time for action is now!
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Can I buy a “T” please?
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This is crap! Somali pirate numbers have grown exponentially and global temperatures have not FALLEN!
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@ 3578 – bogus – ,
There is undoubtedly a time relationship involved with our graph that hasn’t been studied yet. If you’ve studied electromagnetism, you know about hysteresis. If you don’t, you need to go back to school and learn more natural science.
I presume that Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary won’t have such courses; their motto seems to be:
What you believe to be true will control you whether it’s true or not.
Jeremy LaBorde
BTW are you getting academic credit from SBTS for trolling this site?
RAmen
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Guys guys guys. Pirates in speed boats with rocket launchers are not the pirates of the FSM, they don’t count. Just like software pirates, pirates of industry and any other pirate that doesn’t wear pirate gear, sail in a pirate ship, and swashbuckle don’t count.
The Danimal
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Somali pirates are not real pirates, they are just seagoing bandits and terrorists. They have no parrots, they have no tricornered hats, and are seriously peg-leg deficient.
They’re pirate wannabes, PINOs- Pirates In Name Only! Just like Grape Nuts are neither grape nor nut, Somali pirates have not the ability to affect global warming since they cannot properly pronounce the words “Arrrr”, Me hearties” and “Walk the plank ye scurvy dog” – they don’t even try!
Now pass the grog and batten down the hatches already!
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HAIL FSM, SHALL YOU ENJOY THE BEER VOLCANO AND STRIPPER FACTORY!
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As for me everyone believes in Pastafarism, some people know it and some people don’t. But in the end people will just have to admit that the supreme and only ruler of the universe is the Flying Spaghetti Monster. Any other religion is zetta idiotic and shall be iterated. Crunch! I’ll add them to the heap.
RAmen.
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This is absolute genius.
I desperately want to become a Pastafarian. I hope the conversion process is not too difficult. Exactly how much pasta will I need to eat, anyway?
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Amazing….I HAVE SEEN THE RAGU SCENTED LIGHT!!!! It all makes sense now, the pasta dreams, the smell of ragu on the wind, and the fact that blood is the same color as spaghetti sauce.
I must dawn pirate gear and do what I can to please the almighty Flying Spaghetti Monster.
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Uh……..what are the cursewords in Pastafarianism, because I don’t want to piss off the FSM and bring His Sauce down on me, or whatever he does when He’s irked. I can’t believe the attitude of some people regarding the total seriousness of all this. Are they nuts, or what disregarding this important belief. What if they are WRONG? I shudder to think what will happen to them on the final day. I believe, I believe, I totally believe. Now, what does that get me? Hot naked babes covered in spaghetti sauce or what?
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I was lost at sea, awash with conflicting thoughts, I really really wanted to be an Atheist but couldn’t …I need something to believe, then praise his great noodleness I have found my true calling
I shall become a evangelical Pastafarian, I will take to the streets and yell and people in shopping malls. By an amazing coincidence I already have a pirate outfit, he truly moves in mysterious ways
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is he yummy ? :D
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All hail the Flying Spaghetti Monster! -kowtow-
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@Sittingduck,
Ahoy mate. Ye be in need of me Jolly Pirate Fish business card for your efforts. You and any other Pastafarian can send an e-mail to:
cambriadc@yahoo.com
I will send you my free template to help you spread the word of the Mighty FSM. As one Pastafarian to another, I promise to keep your address confidential and never spam.
RAmen
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ABANDON THIS FALSE AND UPSTART FAITH! RETURN TO THE TRUE PATH! Remember the fate of Unknown Kadath, Heed the Dreams in the Witch House. Swim once more through the dark abysses!
EYAH! EYAH! CTHULU FTAGN!
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Charles (#3591),
TAKE YOUR MEDICATION!
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lol :) , How do i join the venganza church???
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I have found faith in his noodly goodness!
RAmen
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I only have one thing to say.
Science = fun and exploration; atoms to particles –> particles to strings –> strings to ? –>? to ?…ad infinitum, there is always the next thing.
Intelligent Design = no fun; “oh it must be God, case closed” (since it’s Blasphemous to go beyond God and dig deeper, like trying to find what God is made of, )
^
^this is an interesting theory, maybe it proves that humans are beyond God.
HOLY SPAGHETTINESS, I SHALL TURN YOU INTO LAI FUN AND EAT YOU!
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Wow! Thank you! I always wanted to write in my site something like that.
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Bobby, why are you so afraid of Creationism?
The Kansas State School Board should not of replied to such a childish letter addressing a very serious matter. Intelligent Design is what it is, another theory. Bobby, can you or Science disprove Intelligent Design? No you cannot, nor can science prove Intelligent Design. Theory is theory!
Bobby, I think you may be the Flying Spaghetti Monster you describe. You are afraid of having two opposing views, or theories if you will, discussed and researched in a serious, intelligent manner. You only see your side, which has nothing but contempt for those with an opposing view.
I think that is a sign of a true Monster. How many people throughout history have tried to dominate others by controlling their minds. When this could not be done, the slaughter began. Is this what you want Bobby? To control other peoples thoughts, perceptions, their right to an independent point of view?
If you cannot control peoples thoughts, perceptions and their independent point of view………………what is your plan Bobby?
One last question, if my email address is not to be published. Why do you need it?
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imagine future generations (million years later) finding an old dedicated server hosting a web page called http://www.venganza .org, and it is the only thing they find about our time.
that’d be neat! haha
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Well, though I might not believe what your religion is, I do think you have to right to express your believes and opinions. For everyone who is commenting this making rude comments, who are you to say this isn’t real?
Faith has everything to do with religions. Let’s say you are a Christian, you didn’t witness what happened to Jesus however long ago. No? So how do you know it’s true? You believe in the bible? did God phsically write it?
My point is, who are you to question any religion? And who are you to judge it? Answer that. :)
AND global warming is happening!
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Ober,
See, you are the one screaming that ID is a valid theory. Evolution is already a proven fact. You seem to not understand what a SCIENTIFIC theory is. You did know that it is still called the THEORY of gravity right? So does that mean that there is an alternative explanation for why what goes up must come down? All scientific theories are constantly being held up to scrutiny and being adjusted according to new information (for example, the theory of gravity has been altered – space-time – look it up, you might learn something)
So, since you are the one saying that this idea of how the world came about (I will not even call it a theory), and you are saying that this should be taught in our public schools, then I am wondering what your proof is. Because we have fossil records and DNA samples, and a little thing that you will have a problem with in your idea – irreversible complexity.
Before you come in here running your mouth about what we are doing wrong, and how this religious dribble dressed up as science should be taught to school children you actually need to have some facts and not just insist that it is fact. You are the one making the argument, so you have to offer the proof. It is not up to us to offer proof that it didn’t happen. That is not how REAL science actually works. You have to offer proof that it did happen. Problem is that you have none, so your only recourse is to attack actual fact.
This statement that you made…
“I think that is a sign of a true Monster. How many people throughout history have tried to dominate others by controlling their minds. When this could not be done, the slaughter began. Is this what you want Bobby? To control other peoples thoughts, perceptions, their right to an independent point of view?”
Let’s go through this very quickly. Throughout history the people that have been trying to dominate others by controlling their minds have been the clergy. They have altered the bible past the point of any relevant historical value, they have made up things like hell, taken scripture out of context in order to preach their own values, removed entire books from the bible because they didn’t teach what the clergy wanted, only gave out bibles in a language that the clergy could read so the masses could not actually read it for themselves, thrown people in jail/killed them/tortured them/banished them/started wars with people for not believing in their god. They persecuted people who believed things like the earth is a sphere, and the sun is the center of the universe. And here is the big one: The church single-handedly stopped all scientific discovery during a period called the “Dark Ages”. Can you imagine how much further we would be as a human race if discoveries weren’t stopped for religion?
So it seems, dear Ober, that you are the one who wants to control people’s thoughts. You are trying to prevent them from seeing fact. And it is also fact that Christians are the biggest killers of Christians, so who is slaughtering? It is definitely not the Pastafarians. We have nothing like bombing abortion clinics or starting wars for religion on our conscience.
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