Noodly beliefs
land pirate in hot water
The
debate over religious dress in educational establishments took another
turn in March when a student in America was suspended for attending
class dressed as a pirate.
This disciplinary
action sparked controversy when Bryan Killian said that the ban violates
his rights because the pirate costume is part of his religion.
Killian says that he follows the Pastafarian religion and that he must
wear ‘full pirate regalia’ according to the holy texts of
the religion.
The school say that the costume was disruptive.
Pastafarian’s worship a supernatural deity called The Flying Spaghetti
Monster which resembles spaghetti and meatballs. The religion preaches
that the universe was created with one touch of ‘his noodly appendage.’
The religion was founded in 2005 by Oregon State University physics
graduate Bobby Henderson to protest against the decision by the Kansas
State Board of Education to require the teaching of intelligent design
as an alternative to biological evolution. In an open letter to the
education board Henderson laid down his beliefs.
Following Henderson’s challenge he posted his letter and education
board responses on a website, which caught the attention of the blogging
and myspace communities. Since then, the Flying Spaghetti Monster has
gained countless followers worldwide, although there are those who remain
spagnostic.
Pastafarian’s also see pirates as ‘absolute divine beings’
and state that the image of them being ‘thieves and outcasts’
is misinformation spread by Christian theologians in the Middle Ages.
Pastafarianism says that they were in fact ‘peace-loving explorers
and spreaders of good will’ who distributed candy to small children.
Henderson has argued that ‘global warming, earthquakes, hurricanes,
and other natural disasters are a direct effect of the shrinking numbers
of pirates since the 1800s.’
In December 2005, Henderson received a reported $80,000 advance to pen
The Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster.
The book is the Pastafarian equivalent of The Bible.
The religion has enjoyed much exposure in the media including being
included in a music video for proto-punks The New York Dolls, appearing
in Playboy, being used as a joke on TV comedy Green Wing and being used
by Richard Hawkins to demonstrate ideas from his book The God Delusion.
Editorial
- April 2007
