galfridus

Some in the intelligent design (creationism) community seem to think Pastafarianism is not legitimate, and don’t believe the Flying Spaghetti Monster created the world. BB is willing to “pay any individual $250,000 [in ‘Intelligently Designed currency’] if they can produce empirical evidence which proves that Jesus is not the son of the Flying Spaghetti Monster.”

Now… I’m a tolerant person. I respect my creationist friends and their beliefs. I even respect the people I know who are Scientologists, etc., because I have to assume that some attempt at sane, rational thought went into deciding to believe in what they believe.

So, what exactly is wrong about believing in a Flying Spaghetti Monster? Come on: Christians believe that a virgin, who was conveniently “immaculate” herself (that one always cracks me up), gave birth to a kid who was nailed to a piece of wood 33 years later and then rose from the dead and then ascended into the sky after that. I’m not knocking Christianity… I’m just saying that when you look at that and, let’s say, the ancient myths of the Greek and Roman days, the ideas really aren’t that different.

So why can’t someone believe in a Flying Spaghetti Monster? In my book, a belief is a belief, be it Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, the Church of the Sub-Genius, or a Flying Spaghetti Monster…

As Douglas Adams (in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy) states in reference to the Babel fish:

Now it is such a bizarrely improbably coincidence that anything so mindbogglingly useful could have evolved by chance that some thinkers have chosen to see it as a final and clinching proof of the non-existence of God.

The argument goes something like this: “I refuse to prove that I exist,” says God, “for proof denies faith, and without faith I am nothing.”

“But,” says Man, “the Babel fish is a dead giveaway isn’t it? It could not have evolved by chance. It proves you exist, and so therefore, by your own arguments, you don’t. QED.”

“Oh dear,” says God, “I hadn’t thought of that,” and promptly vanishes in a puff of logic.