Familial Respect

[Aclor79]

Should I hide my pastafarianism if it will make my grandmother happy? I do not believe I should, but I would appreciate your guidance.

[Mad Willyum Bonney]

Arrgh .... Oi kin onlee speek fer meseff .
An' oi be shore meseff woode nay doet .

[Roy Hunter]

Well, I used to hide my porn and my weed to make my mother happy. pastafarianism isn't a proslyetising religion, so if you want to hide it from anyone, we don't really mind. Neither does the FSM. I think.

[Cardinal Fang]

+1

CF

[Roland Deschain]

There's no need to make a fuss over it. If someone in your family wants you to do something specifically religious, then you can always respectfully decline, saying that you have lost your faith, no longer believe, or some other such gentle method. Not knowing your grandmother though, I don't know if she would take you telling her that you are now a Gentile/goyim well (not the older nation definition, lol), so it's probably best to keep quiet unless the subject is either brought up, or you are in a religious situation where you feel uncomfortable. I didn't feel the need to tell my parents for many years, as it never came up. I'm a little more vocal over it these days, as they know, but it was never something I felt compelled to mention.

Well, I used to hide my porn and my weed to make my mother happy. pastafarianism isn't a proslyetising religion, so if you want to hide it from anyone, we don't really mind. Neither does the FSM. I think.

Smoking weed is illegal, so hiding it from an anti-weed/non-smoking parent is only natural, as you never know how they'll react (been there, done that). Hiding porn on the other hand, just stops your mother from finding out that you are masturbating quite frequently, something that may be traumatising for both you and her, so definitely recommended (not that I know what it is, lol).

[Arkaeon]

If you are in CotFSM because you really believe that the universe was created by a pile of noodles and meatballs, then maybe you have emotional reasons to hide the fact that you have a different theistic god than your family.

If you are in CotFSM because you believe that religion should not be taught as science, or that faith in family bonds and history is not nullified by, nor nullifies, scientific knowledge, then there is no reason for there to be emotional friction over your participation in a bit of fun.

FSMism does not necessarily negate the usefulness of cultural bonds and stories. It does realize that any format of cultural story is about as good as another at making people feel like they belong to the culture.

The open letter to the Kansas School Board did not demand that christian faith was irrelevant. It merely demanded equal time for something equally and totally irrational, thus putting the board members in a position of deciding whether total irrationality belonged in a science class in the first place.

You can be a christian and an FSMist, or a buddhist and an FSMist, or whatever. Balanced Rock, Utah, stands there single-boulderily proving that the Bible isn't literally true -- a worldwide deluge would have knocked it over. Diatom layers in Japanese lakes (which were never scoured by glaciers in the last ice age) show that some of those lakes have been there for over 70,000 years at least. The most you have to admit to your family or your religion is that you consider the cultural tales to be just that: cultural tales. You don't have to say those tales are invalid teachers of morality in order to prefer science as a method of explaining the progress of reality. Many populist evolution and old-earth proponents are still religious people and continue with their religious practices out of respect for their family history and bonds. They just don't pretend to think the earth is 6015 years old.

If what you are really hiding from your family is that you are an atheist, then that is a completely different thing. Back to you...

[Pharaoh Cat]

...

Arkaeon's post is so well written and says something so worth remembering that maybe it should be preserved somewhere in a place of prominence.

[Arkaeon]

We really have to stop agreeing with each other all the time like this... it's going to get us into trouble! This IS still the internet, isn't it? :)

[Diamond Jim]

I love to agree on things. Now that we agree.
Lets beat each other with wet noodles. Then head for the strip club and have some beers.

[Arkaeon]

Hi there, Diamond Jim! Welcome!

[Aclor79]

Lets beat each other with wet noodles.

My science teacher in 7th grade used to jokingly threaten as a punishment "1,000 lashes with a wet noodle."

[Arkaeon]

"1000 lashes with a wet noodle." Wow, that gave me a 1980's flashback. I think I heard Cyndi Lauper in the background and everything. Good job almost freaking me out.

As for strip clubs: I spent some years as a private practice shiatsu (deep-muscle massage) therapist, so if some girl I'm not already in a personal relationship with wants to take off her clothes around me, she can make an appointment and pay me $50/hour. How's that for jaded/acclimation?

Anyway, Actor79, did you come to a decision about publicizing (or not) your Pastafarianism and independent thought? I am always intrigued by the tendency of people to lie to their loved ones about who they really are and what they believe. I think it's a function of personal guilt feelings (which I don't have) so I'm sometimes a bit curious about how that works.

[Aclor79]

Anyway, Actor79, did you come to a decision about publicizing (or not) your Pastafarianism and independent thought? I am always intrigued by the tendency of people to lie to their loved ones about who they really are and what they believe. I think it's a function of personal guilt feelings (which I don't have) so I'm sometimes a bit curious about how that works.

I did end up publicizing it, but true to our religion, I did not shove it in my family's faces.