Pastafarian literature
Can anyone recommend anything?
A New Zealand couple had the honour of celebrating the world's first Pastafarian wedding on Saturday, when Ministeroni Karen Martyn joined Marianna Fenn and Toby Ricketts in noodly wedlock. The historic ceremony took place aboard a vessel in Akaroa harbor, where Fenn and Ricketts - dressed as pirates - exchanged pasta rings, …
I believe The Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster would be the canonical text.
Pea and parmesan noodles in a thin, clarified saffron soup.
In other words, their union was consomméated soon after the ceremony.
To protest against religions and poke fun at believers they jump on a trendy new, look at me I'm different, non-religion religion. aka cult. Next thing you know they are taking it seriously and demanding rights like other religions, well that's already started. And the most stupid thing is it's not even a new idea, scientology got there before them and look where they are now. Another few years and you won't be able to tell them apart.
The thing is, this case means it is a step closer to being a real religion. That would really please its creator, I guess, but would cause a bit of a dilemma for those who use it to bait followers of the classical religions : will they soon have to renounce pastafarianism and start ridiculing those followers who remain?
I have already encountered people unironically describing themselves as "devout" pastafarians. People are starting to treat it as a legitimate set of beliefs and a religion, which I find amusing as all hell because they're exactly the sort of uncritical crowd-followers that the whole thing was originally created to mock.
Just because other individuals rationally but independently choose to do the same thing as you does not mean any of you are sheeple following a crowd. Now, believing what you are told to believe because it is what your parents believed and what you were raised to believe without questioning or examining the rationality or logic of that belief system, on the other hand, absolutely does make you a mindless drone.
Believe whatever you want to believe, but for the love of Jibbers Himself, arrive at that belief on your own using logic and reason instead of succumbing to the inertia of your upbringing.
"Why do certain beliefs get accepted? Why is the FSM any more or less disprovable from anything else?"
The church's (increasingly historical) significance in society is not because it's religious claims are inherently believable - rather, it is because societies have tended to function reasonably well and flourish under Christianity.
@Matthew Taylor, "societies have tended to function reasonably well and flourish under Christianity"
When are where was that? I'm guessing you're not referring to the middle ages, when the Church had real power, and the Islamic nations were far ahead in astronomy, mathematics and other sciences. I suppose there was the colonial period, when mostly Christian European nations went out and stole whole countries, but there you'd have to say it only worked "reasonably well" for the European ruling classes. Then there was the success of the Christian Europeans dragging the world into two World Wars. OK, OK, how about post-war to now... lots of success and growth, best exemplified by China's decades of >7% GDP growth, oops, China's not Christian. I give up!
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While you are right, please do not let the sins of the past blind you to the delicious irony that in our modern world the places that have made the biggest gains in the rights of the traditionally disenfranchised (women, children, prisoners, gays, etc) all have a pronounced Christian heritage.
Many Christians seem to forget that Jesus partied with hookers.
No, those are the places who refused religion as a base for basic rights and a source for legislation. The western world *fought hard* against the idea that laws and the "very special rights" of some people ("nobles", "priesthood") came from a supernatural entity and thereby couldn't be changed.
It was a very useful way to enslave people "hey, my power is from God (and this interested priest will confirm it) so you can't do anything but obey - otherwise I'm in my right to kill you because you have no rights". But more and more people started to challenge it - because religion ceased to be an absolute value.
That's the missing steps other part of the world never took, and we see the consequences.
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The church's (increasingly historical) significance in society is not because it's religious claims are inherently believable - rather, it is because societies have tended to function reasonably well and flourish under Christianity.
Do you have even a vaguely tenable justification for your rather dubious claim, or do you expect me to take it on his noodly appendages.
"rather, it is because societies have tended to function reasonably well and flourish under Christianity"
Are you high? Please share.
Addendum: I loathe the societies Christianity built and would dearly - dearly - love the opportunity to build and live in one built by pastafarians. I believe with every fibre of my being it would be superior in damned near every way.
I bet we won't even burn anyone alive to create that society. Holy Meatballs, Batman!
"they jump on a trendy new, look at me I'm different, non-religion religion. aka cult"
They don't show any signs of going down the cult route just yet - for instance having someone who claims to represent their god on Earth. They can leave that to the catholic church...
And how would you define a "non-religion"? - what they claim to believe in is a lot more reasonable, possible and believable than most other religions that I can think of!
Scientology is -and always was- about the money. Pastafarianism was created to protest mandatory teaching of 'Intelligent Design'.
Poking fun at believers is entirely valid; if you take a moment to consider what those believers would advocate doing to those not of their particular brand of faith if the positions were reversed. Passive-aggressive piss-taking while simultaneously having fun is not the worst way to be by any means. If you research a little, you will also notice that "one true faith" and "burn the heretic" stances are shot down pretty hard; both in canon and practice. It also sets out to be inclusive (ie, you can be an active participant in another religion with no problems).
Now the demanding rights bit is partly publicity; partly being silly for the sheer joy of it; but also by parodying the more established religions it may serve to ameliorate some of the damage they do.
Also worth noting is that Pastafarians consider Friday a Holy Day; which many of us in IT already know and practice.
The fact that these people can clown around like pirates with colanders on their head, during what is apparently a ceremony signifying their lifelong commitment to each other, demonstrates that religion is no longer calling the shots in New Zealand. It's a spent force, and this dancing on its grave is unseemly in my view.
It is indeed all-inclusive:
"That is to say, you do not have to Believe to be part of our Church, but we hope in time you will see the Truth. But skeptics, as well as members of other religions, are always welcome." [http://www.venganza.org/about/]
In all seriousness, it's a spoof. I don't really see this as much different to any other "themed" wedding, or a church wedding for a "non-believer". They are held not because the couple believe, but because it is what the bride and groom want and it makes them both happy.
Pastafarianism doesn't make fun of Rastafarianism at all. And I have yet to meet a Rasta who was even a little offended by Pastafarianism. Have you even met Rastas? I don't think they have a xenophobic bone in their body.
Now, Christians - more specifically evangelical Protestants - they have no problems about projecting their mindspiders onto others and using that strawman made out of wigglies to try to put down someone they don't like. Far be it from them to actually analyse their faith or the ridiculous lengths they go to in order to try to force that faith on others.
Nope, rely on tactics that try to pain skeptics as somehow terrible so that any skepticism they bring to the table is invalidated by this theoretically heinous act.
One which nobody - not even the whining Protestant casting aspersions - actually believes is horrible, nor that any offense was ever intended by anyone involved.
But hey, keep on truckin', mate. Preferably until you're way the fuck away from the internet so you can't spread your shite all over it.
Xenophobic is an interesting choice of word there. Not sure what you mean by it exactly.
I've met plenty of righteous Rastas, who would incidentally be offended by the ism you put on the end of Rastafarian. You know why Rastas speak in patois? It's as a way to separate their language from the language of Their slavers. I wouldn't say that's Xenophobic (just an attempt to reassert a language stolen from them), but it's an indication that everything's not as cool as you may think.
Not sure how many discussions you've had with Rastas about Pastafarians, but don't be surprised if people just say things are fine because most times it's easier than having the conversation.
I'm not trying to paint skeptics as terrible, just pointing out that whilst you are congratulating yourself on how inclusive you are, you should just take a minute to reflect on the symbolism of your religion and the demographics of its adherents.
First off, I'm a Crabstian, not a Pastafarian. Secondly, I most Rastas I know are not only chill with Pastafarianism, they'll don the colander and salt the water with the rest of us. And yes, I can be Crabstian and celebrate Pastafarian traditions with all mirth and ceremony just as the Rastas can do so. Pastafarians encourage such inclusion.
And if there are Rastas who truly have a problem with the term "Pastafarianism" I honestly and heartily encourage them to head on over to Venganza.org and raise the issue. There is a really good chance that the Pastafarians there will discuss the issue seriously and with sincere and honest consideration for the feelings of the Rastas and may well attempt to change the term to "Pastians" or somesuch.
The key here is that Pastafarianism, as a term, was never designed to "make fun of" Rastafarianism or Rastas in any way. And I am pretty sure that Rastas know that.
It's the angry white protestants who are getting all falsely upset on behalf of the Rastas - who are perfectly capable of raising issues on their own without white folk having to do it for them, if they actually happen to care about a topic - who are the xenophobes. It's all about deflection and poisoning the well, not about actually giving a damn about the Rastas, or peaceful coexistence.
Maybe, one day, when everyone can learn to stop taking themselves so goddamned seriously, we have have nice things.
Perhaps... though perhaps they won't be doing it together.
A wedding is about commitment and while a bit of fun is a good thing, turning the entire concept/event into a joke may indicate the level of seriousness with which they regard it. The point of the gold rings and so on is permanence and untarnished endurance. Pasta is no viable substitute. It mocks, it tastes great, but it doesn't last.
Making the celebration of commitment to each other into a joke pretty much negates the the whole point of the ritual. Not that I'm terribly surprised - the anti-religious tends to also be anti (the traditional) family too, in effect, if not explicitly.
The bride has given up:
Will you love her, comfort her, honour and protect her,
and, forsaking all others,
be faithful to her as long as you both shall live?
Instead opting for a promise to salt the pasta water. That seems... sad. What value does the groom place on the bride if he can't even bring himself to publicly promise something more worthwhile than salt-water.
This isn't to say that a traditional ceremony makes everything rosy. I'm just sad to see people treat each other with so little respect. It's one thing to have a little fun at a wedding, but while the commitment may be merely a sad joke, the divorce is more likely to be a heart-wrenching tragedy with inter-generational damage. What will be be the reaction of his Noodliness to that?
"A wedding is about commitment and while a bit of fun is a good thing, turning the entire concept/event into a joke may indicate the level of seriousness with which they regard it."
I have heard about all sorts of themed weddings, from Alice in Wonderland to Klingon. A wedding is not a marriage, and the fact that they both share the same sense of fun bodes well for the future.
A wedding is about showing your family, your friends, and the world that you wish to be together forever. A marriage is actually staying together forever. I would suggest they have the same chance as any other couple, religious or not, of making this work.
I'll add that I'm not anti-religious. People may believe anything they want, as long as they do not try to force those beliefs on me or restrict my actions because of their beliefs. An agnostic atheist myself, I respect others' beliefs, but I don't think they make them a better person than a non-religious person. What matters is not what you believe, but how you treat others.
I was about to reply with something very similar. Themed weddings are not a new thing, and marriage itself has been around since LONG before people were believing in most of the "traditional" religions. If this couple have found a way to celebrate their relationship that both of them enjoy, then I feel it doesn't affect their chances of staying together one iota.
As for the assertion in the original post that non-religious families tend to also be non-traditional in the family sense, I know a number of completely non-religious families as well as religious ones and don't really see any correlation between the two things so I'm interested whether it's a "fact" or just an assumption.
The last sentence in your post really says it all for me - "What matter is not what you believe, but how you treat others". I couldn't agree more - regardless of what choice of religion (or not) people have made.
Making the celebration of commitment to each other into a joke pretty much negates the the whole point of the ritual. Not that I'm terribly surprised - the anti-religious tends to also be anti (the traditional) family too, in effect, if not explicitly.
Got to take issue with you there on two counts. I got married in church because it looked pretty in photographs. And that's it, pretty well. Neither my wife or myself are even vaguely religious and the important thing was the public declaration of commitment. It would have been functionally the same thing even if we'd got married on jetskis in Spongebob costumes. Now the church also pleased some of the more ossified of the elderly relatives as a side-effect; but that was for them and not us.
And how, exactly do you justify bollocks like: the anti-religious tends to also be anti (the traditional) family too? I am not at all religious and am doing just fine as a participant in a perfectly normal nuclear family. In return, I give you monks; nuns; celibate priests (*cough*); harems; ISIS's sex-slaves and so on. A 'traditional' family unit is the perfect defensive position for the individuals and children in a style that society as a whole can easily cope with...it has fuck-all to do with religion. And how does religion help out? Banning contraception; forcing people who have been raped to bear those children; making abortions as difficult as possible; censoring/banning sex education; arranged/child marriages; honour killings; 'abstinence' drives (to teenagers FFS!)...the list goes on. In other words, religion consistently and uniformly removes choices and sows disinformation when -if you really want a better society- you educate the shit out of people and let them choose the time and circumstances so they can build the strongest possible family unit at at time that feels right for them.
"The point of the gold rings and so on is permanence and untarnished endurance. Pasta is no viable substitute. It mocks, it tastes great, but it doesn't last."
And what percentage of Non-Pastafarianism marriages become mockerys of themselves and don't last?
"The point of the gold rings and so on is permanence and untarnished endurance. Pasta is no viable substitute. It mocks, it tastes great, but it doesn't last."
I'm guessing the correlation between "amount spent on traditional wedding" and "length of marriage" - isn't a positive number
My wedding was about why I and my wife said it was about. Just who the fuck do you think you are to tell me what "a" (meaning, in part my) wedding is about? Who the fuck are you to be dictating the meaning of something to 7.5 billion people?
Nobody. That's who.
Many will defend your rights to make a choice. Even to be wrong. Just be careful when you mock them that your not restricting their choice to be wrong too. All of us are wrong at times and mocking does little to correct that. Instead it causes people to dig further and become even more ignorant.
Point out their faults but dont think you will get far if you imitate them.
Just be careful when you mock them that your not restricting their choice to be wrong too.
Mocking things is somewhere between a sport; an art and a yawn. Offence can be taken but never given. Your species is a bunch of bastards.
All you can do is try and make things better.
You don't get far with religious believers no matter what you do. They believe in something that cannot be proven. Logic and rationality are anathema to them.
If and when they are ready to engage with the rest of the world in a rational fashion, I'll be more than happy to engage with them. But I don't and won't respect irrational or inertia-based devotion to the illogical and unprovable.
Satire, at least, has a purpose. And I don't see anyone burning people alive in the name of Pastafarianism or even satire more generally. So off yonder, ho!
If this is a mockery, are modern funerals also, say, 'disrespectful'?
When we cremated Dad I had them play 'Smokestack Lightning'. I wish I could believe he was somehow watching, because he'd have loved it!
What weddings - and funerals - and everything else in fact, are about, is being true to yourself. If that's what these two were doing, good on 'em!
I once thought a Viking Funeral would be a classy way to go. Then I considered a Circus Funeral - the body is shot out of a cannon into the grave (they get 3 tries). Now I figure a Hefty funeral is the thing - stick my body in a Hefty Cinch-Sak and set me by the curb*.
*preferably after I'm dead...
I've decided to call myself apatheist. I really don't care about religion. I don't care what other people's religion is, and I don't care if there is a god or not. I also don't care if you have to spell it God.
Just as long as your personal (non)belief makes you a better person, and makes you care about people around you, regardless of their religion, you stand good in my book. And I will treat you the same. If there is a deity waiting for me to come to be judged after I die, then he's probably smarter than to judge me on how many nickels I tossed in a bag on Sunday. If there is none, well, at least I didn't spend my entire life worrying about it.
Almost beer O'clock here.