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
You are all a bunch of heretics and must recant or be burned. Our Lord the Macaroni Monster does not look kindly upon those who refer to Him as ‘Spaghetti’.
He loves you all, which is why He offers you a chance to humiliate yourselves instead of being burned - which would be much more fun for Him.
Zapatoola, Lord High Keeper of the Scrolls
All those years that I have loathed the idea of eating spaghetti, though I am quite partial to other pasta, are now explained. The though of eating ones God would, to any religious person, be revolting. Thank you for a revelation which at last makes complete sense of my life to date. As I understand it, the fact that I now believe wholeheartedly, carries no obligation to be horrible to anyone else. Are you sure. There must be someone I should shun, spurn or revile.
Yours inextricably entwined in the strands of faith
Simon
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1st off i am a christian and that is my name 2.
I agree that just teaching Christianity in schools is an unfair thing, but what i have a problem with is how when children get to the how the universe began section in there text books it is all on evolution. It implies that it is a 100% truth with no maybes or could be trues. Scientist are trying to create life in a lab and are failing miserably. If nothing could make life life, why cant a intellectual species create it. Macro-evolution and Creationism should be taught equally.
A fantastic letter and a fantastic web-site!! Such a devinely inspired work must indicate that you have been touched by His noodly appendage. Keep up the good work.
The inverse relationship between climate and pirates would be a lot more apparent if you plotted your data correctly. “Pirates” is the dependent (y-axis) variable, and is a continuous variable that should increase going “up.” The way you’ve plotted it, the relationship looks direct, not inverse.
I like ninjas and rice? Can I worship the Rice Ninja Monster?
@slowcurrent: you failed to grasp the point.
1/ Evolution isn’t about the beginning of the Universe. That’s Physics and Cosmology. Evolution is a theory describing, quite well and with lots of supporting evidence, why we see so many different types of organism (they are all created by the FSM, who immediately whips up new pre-aged fossils whenever anyone looks in the right place, of course, because he has a sense of humour). Of course, humans are doing their best to reverse this explosion of diversity, and get back to a nice simple state in which there’s nothing left living on the planet. I blame a religious perspective in which man was given dominion over the Earth - but you can choose Evil Fish And Chips, or whatever. I have no evidence for my belief, so you get freedom of choice - at least until the evidence is in, when my vote goes with reality.
2/ For me, the problem isn’t “only teaching Christianity in schools”. It is treating speculative mumbo jumbo blessed by a self-appointed clique of fat arsed gits as some kind of truth that supercedes physical reality. It’s on a par with believing that the sky is always lemon-yellow, whatever your senses say, just because someone with his shirt on backwards, tells you that it is so.
3/ And finally, it is about priviliged positions. Just because Christians (and Muslims and many other faithists) can claim more outrageous insanity than the kind of people we normally treat with chemicals to stop the delusions, they get tax breaks. If all it took to get a tax break was being verifiably insane, I think we’d all find ways to claim. This has to be a very specific delusion, though. You have to claim to be speaking for a Higher Power of unverifiable existence. Then you get a tax break and invited to speak about important stuff like abortion, cloning, ethical and humane killing of animals and so on.
4/ And finally, the moral authority claimed by Christians (and many others) is a social construct. It varies with time and fashion. Currently slavery is frowned upon. But it used to be the way that was ordained by God. That’s not a particularly endearing way to claim that you derive a moral authority from an infinite and eternal, all powerful, but surprisingly mute and ineffective God. Is it? What? He changed his mind? Oh, yes, the cop out clause - We Are Not Mean To Know His Mind. And if you say that the historical Men Of The Cloth were wrong, and the current ones are right… what makes you think that they are now right about homosexuality, abortion, or even more important issues like washing your hands after using the toilet?
I was having such a nice time reading this site and all, until I came across your amazingly comprehensive miscomprehension. Have a nice afterlife.
In ancient Sumeria, 5000 years before Jesus Christ was born, it was believed that they lived in fear of a titanic tentacled beast with glowing red eyes that would rise from the depths and devour all life. Modern day Pastafarians know that they were actually anticipating the day that all life would devour pasta.
Ph’nglui mgl’w'nafh Cthulhu R’lyeh wgah’nagl fhtagn! Was always thought to mean: In his house at R’lyeh, dead Cthulhu waits dreaming. Modern Pasta scholars know the truth: With his noodles al dente, Cthulhu smells the sauce simmering.
Of course, deconstructing the name C’thul hu gets us (no shock here) “Flying Spaghetti Monster.”
Most Holy FSM is kind, generous, loving, forgiving and delicious. His Noodly appendages have been nourishing his followers with succulent goodness and zest (with a hint of garlic) since the great victory against the Salami Beast in 3765 BC. The Most Holy FSM is willing to offer his children an eternal plate at the Pasta Bar; simply surrender and give yourself freely to our Noodly Protector, and you will savor in his omnipresent carbohydrates for all of eternity. For those who refuse to see and savor in his Noodly goodness, and for those who may deny his Glory, you will be tortured and burned for all of eternity. He has blessed you with free will, after all, so the choice is yours.
djb1001
@The One True God Mar 4th, 2008 at 11:29 pm
“for those who may deny his Glory, you will be tortured and burned for all of eternity.”
.
Umm…no….not quite….
Non-believers are sentenced to flat beer and ugly strippers Pastafarian heaven til they have truely and wholehearted accepted the Noodly Lord into their hearts….then maybe….
RAmen
I am writing to let yo know that the grad students of the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at a prominent scientific university (that will remain annonymous although you have my email address) are giving equal time to the subjects of evolution, intelligent design and the FSM in our grad core evolution class. You will also be pleased to know that we intend to present the material while wearing pirate hats so as not to offend HIM.
Ramen,
First Year Grad Student
Indeed, we should teach the learnings of Pastafairnism at schools. Tisn’t like we are learning useful otherwise.
Im very concerned about the global warming so thanks to you im going to leave my medicine carrer and from now im going to be a pirate Arrrrrrrrr
Praise the great Macarroni Gooooood
XDDDDDDDDDDDDDD
As a reformed etheist, I am distressed in reading this communication. First: spaghetti was only invented a couple of thousand years ago and the universe must be older than that, unless the bible is wrong on this subject. And we all know, the authors of the bible did not rely on falsifiable scientific methods to determine the age of our universe - they simply got the message from above, which is way more reliable than all that science stuff that no one understands.
Secondly, I cannot image a spaghetti monster to invent the most exciting human activity (sex). It would never arise in a spaghetti brain.
So my conclusion is clear: this theory is baloney and can not be taught at schools.
ALL HAIL FSM! ALL HAIL FSM!
@Etheist
Are you kidding? The FSM has a lot of appendages and balls.. I’m sure
1.- He (or She) also has female attributes
2.- He thinks A LOT about sex
.
“First: spaghetti was only invented a couple of thousand years ago and the universe must be older than that, unless the bible is wrong on this subject.”
Uhum…yes, the bible is wrong on this subject…and yes, the universe seems to be older than that -and much older than the bible says. We know He created the Earth, the mountains, the tree and a midgit 5.000 years ago but - because of His Holy sens of humor- He is playing with the scientific results
.
“And we all know, the authors of the bible did not rely on falsifiable scientific methods to determine the age of our universe - they simply got the message from above, which is way more reliable than all that science stuff that no one understands.”
hahahahahaha…sorry…hahahahahaha…that part is pure gold!! I’m going to laught for years!!
Our prophet Bobby also got the message from above, from our Holy FSM. Can you prove why your revelation is better than our revelation?
.
“this theory is baloney and can not be taught at schools”
That’s not a theory! It’s a fact! It’s the Truth!
.
RAmen
P.S: I really think that you are being sarcastic, just in case…
I would like to comment on saddlechariot statement made on Feb 29th, 2008 at 1:51 am. The eating of spaghetti should be a joyful event. This would be the holy communion of the Church. Comsuming the body of our lord brings us closer to his noodly goodness. Spaghitti communion should also consist of drinking rum, for it represents the life blood of the pirates that came before us.
Glory to noodles al dente
RAmen.
“As a reformed etheist, I am distressed in reading this communication. First: spaghetti was only invented a couple of thousand years ago and the universe must be older than that, unless the bible is wrong on this subject. And we all know, the authors of the bible did not rely on falsifiable scientific methods to determine the age of our universe - they simply got the message from above, which is way more reliable than all that science stuff that no one understands.
Secondly, I cannot image a spaghetti monster to invent the most exciting human activity (sex). It would never arise in a spaghetti brain.
So my conclusion is clear: this theory is baloney and can not be taught at schools.”
you make me sick.
you can’t spell.
you’re sentence structure is horrible.
you are obviously a child, and you should learn your place and shut your mouth.
……….if fsm cannot be taught in school,that means that ther number of pirates will deplete instead of grow and that will make earth like a nice hot sphere of sause looking lava.and we do not want this.
RAmen..
P.S. this is directed to Etheist #2,939,349,350