Worshipping the Flying Spaghetti Monster Is Not a Real Religion, Court Rules
Sometimes you can take a good thing too far : inmate loses his bid to wear a pirate costume.
For the uninitiated, Judge Gerrard gives some explanatory background on Pastafarianism:
FSMism is a riposte to intelligent design that began with a letter to the Kansas State Board of Education when it was considering intelligent design. See, Bobby Henderson, The Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster 111-13 (2006) (FSM Gospel). The primary criticism of intelligent design—and the basis for excluding it from school science classes—is that although it purports to be “scientific,” it is actually “an interesting theological argument” but “not science.” Kitzmiller, 400 F. Supp. 2d at 745-46. The conceit of FSMism is that, because intelligent design does not identify the designer, its “master intellect” could just as easily be a “Flying Spaghetti Monster” as any Judeo-Christian deity—and, in fact, that there is as much scientific evidence for a Flying Spaghetti Monster as any other creator. See FSM Gospel at 3-4. 1 As the FSM Gospel explains, “[w]e are entering into an exciting time, when no longer will science be limited to natural explanations… . Propelled by popular opinion and local government, science is quickly becoming receptive to all logical theories, natural and supernatural alike.”
In his lawsuit, the inmate sought $5 million and claimed he has “several tattoos proclaiming his faith” and demanded that prison officials afford his “faith” the “ability to order and wear religious clothing and pendants, the right to meet for weekly worship services and classes and the right to receive communion.” Corrections officials determined FSMism was a parody religion and rejected his requests. (The religious clothing at issue is “a pirate costume,” the judge notes.)
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