In case you’ve never heard of them, millions of “Pastafarians” claim they belong to the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, and they just had the church’s first state-approved wedding over in New Zealand.
Wikipedia explains: “The Flying Spaghetti Monster (FSM) is the deity of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster or Pastafarianism (a portmanteau of pasta and Rastafarian), a social movement that promotes a light-hearted view of religion and opposes the teaching of intelligent design and creationism in public schools. Pastafarianism is legally recognized as a religion in Poland, in The Netherlands, and in New Zealand – where Pastafarian representatives have been authorized to celebrate weddings and where the first legally recognized Pastafarian wedding was performed in April 2016. In the same month in the United States, a Federal Judge ruled that the “Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster” is not a real religion.
In what many religious people would call a mockery of God, they say “R’Amen” instead of “Amen at the end of “prayers” and celebrate “Pastover” around Passover and “Ramendan” around Ramadan….
A few days ago, the group held their first official wedding:
“The scene: a wedding on a pirate-style ship in New Zealand’s Akaroa Harbour.
The rings: known here as rigatoni, and made of pasta.
The happy couple: Pastafarians Toby Ricketts and Marianna Fenn, in full pirate regalia.
The officiant: Karyn Martyn, New Zealand’s first “ministeroni.”
The wedding feast: pasta. Only pasta. (OK, there was some cake, too.)
Welcome to the first official wedding of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, according to The Associated Press. The group was inspired by a 2005 satirical letter calling for greater separation of church and state.”
…”You might remember that the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster started as a demonstration against teaching intelligent design in Kansas schools in 2005. Bobby Henderson wrote to the Kansas State Board of Education, saying that according to his religion, a “Flying Spaghetti Monster created the universe” — and this alternative theory should be taught in schools, he added:
“It is absolutely imperative that they realize that observable evidence is at the discretion of a Flying Spaghetti Monster. Furthermore, it is disrespectful to teach our beliefs without wearing His chosen outfit, which of course is full pirate regalia. I cannot stress the importance of this enough, and unfortunately cannot describe in detail why this must be done as I fear this letter is already becoming too long. The concise explanation is that He becomes angry if we don’t.”
…”When it came time for the kiss, the bride and groom slurped up either end of a noodle until their lips met,” the AP reported.
photo credit: Nick Perry, AP
As for the vows? “The groom, Toby Ricketts, vowed to always add salt before boiling his pasta, while bride Marianna Fenn donned a colander on her head.” [Colanders are the official religious head garb of the “religion” and some nations have even allowed people to get their drivers license or other ID photos wearing a colander on their head “for religious reasons.”]
During the service, Martyn, the ministeroni, explained some of the core beliefs of Pastafarians. “The Flying Spaghetti Monster created the world. We know that,” she said, according to the AP. “We weren’t around then and we didn’t see it, but no other religion was around to see it either, and our deity is as plausible as any other.”
Read more at the full original article: http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/04/16/474510676/holy-macaroni-welcome-to-the-first-ever-official-pastafarian-wedding
I hope for their sake that God has an amazing sense of humor. I hope He does not judge the world as ripe for wrath based on mockery by millions, and lack of faith in billions. But if there was ever an age when blasphemy would generate a response from God, this age of state-sanctioned mockery of God could do it soon. And you know from my books that I suspect it will happen 2016-2019.
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