According to a recent study, American's consume, on average, 20 lbs. of pasta every year. We are not only the highest consumers of pasta in the world, but we produce 4.4 million pounds of pasta every fiscal year, making us the second-largest producing nation in the world.
Traditional history tells us that the origins of pasta trail back to fourth century B.C., and European lore states that Marco Polo was the pioneer of pasta in Italy after his venture to the East in the 13th century. Typically these two narratives are the most universally accepted explanations of how this delectable dish came to us, but there is another, more secluded explanation: The Flying Spaghetti Monster.
Meet Pastafarians, beholden to the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster. Beginning a few years ago, this now "mainstream" church worships a deity that we all know and love: spaghetti and meatballs. However, their version is slightly different than ours.
"Religious texts tell us that humans evolved from Pirates. Consider that so-called “science experts” would have us believe humans evolved from primates, pointing towards the shared 99% shared DNA between humans and primates. But humans and Pirates share upwards of 99.9% of DNA.
We believe that Pirates were the original Pastafarians and that they were peaceful explorers. It was only due to Christian misinformation that they have an image of outcast criminals today.
No one knows what the afterlife holds, but we are told FSM Heaven has a Beer Volcano and Stripper Factor" says the website description.
I genuinely wish I was making this up. Yes, folks, there is a religious sect that believes that God comes in the form of a flying spaghetti blob. #'Merica.
If you're having as hard of a time believing this as I did, the photo below depicts a parade hosted in the Fremont Solstice Parade.
Like I said, I'm not making this up. In Wisconsin, home of the majority of this outrageous popular religion, the DMV made it legal for Pastafarians to wear Colanders in their driver's license photos. For those of you unfamiliar with what a Colander is, it's what you drain spaghetti water with when you boil it on your stove.
Now the hilarious part of this whole thing is that this Church initially started as a "satire to prove how ridiculous religion is," but some people actually ended up starting churches and creating cults. How awesome is that?
While the underlying point of this article is to point out the hilarity, albeit moderately disturbing, of the community of Pastafarians, there is another point I'd like to make: Religion isn't bad.
What?
Yes, in this context that may seem quite bonkers, but let me explain.
The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster was created to poke fun at the idea of religion. Depicting it as ridiculous, morally repugnant, and outlandishly fraudulent, it makes religions seem like creepy cults who worship a mystical, magical creature.
While I'll admit some religions seem ridiculous in nature, the inherent structure of faith is actually a wonderful, emotionally cathartic experience that gives many people hope, love, community, and purpose. Faith allows you to believe in something greater than yourself. If you happen to find your faith through worshiping a god or deity, then good for you. If you find it some other way, maybe through self-fulfillment or philosophy, then kudos. Regardless, faith is an extraordinary way to add purposeful fulfillment to your life.
While I completely understand the initial point of the creation of the fictional Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, I think they missed a huge point -- religion is not all bad. Faith can be beautiful, pure, whole, and emotionally satisfying.
