Why do atheists talk about the Flying Spaghetti Monster?

Question

Do they really believe it or are they trying to make a point? If it's a point they want to make, WHAT is the point they're trying to make?

Thanks, everybody! I was hoping more Christians would answer... I wanted to see if they understood the point. I actually already know about the FSM, what the point is, etc etc... I guess a lot of Christians don't know what it's all about.

Answer 1

The point is that the FSM makes just as much sense, and has just as much evidence as, God.

Only it is completely absurd and no one would believe it.... but the real question all Pastafarians ask is.. can you prove the FSM DOESN'T exist?

The reason he was created is because of the whole Intelligent Design thing being taught in schools. The point was that if certain people believe that God created the universe and their beliefs should be taught alongside science, then the people who follow the idea that the FSM created the universe should have their ideas taught as well.

Please go to http://www.venganza.org/about/open-letter/ to learn the whole history and read the letter that started it all.

Answer 2

I wish everyone would stop mentioning it. It always makes me hungry when I read that.

EDIT: I can tell you what one Christian thinks about it. The point of the FSM is that all propositions are equal that are not scientifically demonstrable or that rely on phenomena not theoretically verifiable by scientific investigation. To use a term you're probably familiar with, Christians aren't answering this question because they don't want to give it the oxygen of respectability. Many believers will see it as an insult, another attempt to ridicule them. If you want an answer that does not assume that perception, one response that I'd offer is simply: How many people's testimonies do you know of in which FSM gave its life so its enemies might live? How many people have gone down in history for living and dying that others might know of the boundless love of FSM? How many charity hospitals, soup kitchens or homeless shelters have been opened and are operating because of the love and compassion wrought in people's hearts by FSM?
Though these conditions don't provide you with the empirical scientific evidence you demand as "proof of God's existence," they should make an impartial observer deduce that the Christian God is more likely to have a basis in truth than the FSM. I used to be an atheist, and there are many Christians past and present who set out to once and for all disprove the existence of God and, in the course of their endeavors, came to believe. Those atheists who base their position on the premise that all believers are stupid and reject science, logic and reason are just not approaching the situation realistically. We're obviously not all stupid (though many of us are), and many of us are logical and rational. We just don't necessarily hold logic and reason to be the ultimate tests of truth. If we would all leave off the insults, ridicule and assumptions of ignorance, the world would be a better place. If atheists were more interested in discovering why we believe than in mocking us for having faith, and if Christians were more intent on actually showing love than in invoking the wrath of God, we'd both have a lot more credibility. Hopefully we're all doing most of our searching outside these boards.

Answer 3

Of course we don't actually believe it. The point is, there's as much proof for the FSM as there is for any other deity you can imagine. And if they are getting their religion taught in schools, then you have to include the FSM, since it makes more sense anyway. At least we know there is spaghetti. Who's ever seen a god?

Answer 4

The Flying Spaghetti Monster is the deity of a parody religion founded in 2005 by Oregon State University physics graduate Bobby Henderson to protest 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 sent to the education board, Henderson professes belief in a supernatural Creator called the Flying Spaghetti Monster, which resembles spaghetti and meatballs. He furthermore calls for the "Pastafarian" theory of creation to be taught in science classrooms, essentially invoking a reductio ad absurdum argument against the teaching of intelligent design. Followers of the Flying Spaghetti Monster (FSM) call themselves Pastafarians, a portmanteau of pasta and Rastafarian.

Because of its recent popularity and media exposure, the Flying Spaghetti Monster is used by atheists, such as Richard Dawkins, as a modern version of Russell's teapot.

Answer 5

It started out as an open letter to the Kansas School Board. The point is that Creationism should not be taught in the public school system, any more than Flying Spaghetti Monsterism or the Stork Theory should be. Visit the site, it explains it all.

Answer 6

Atheists like myself used the Flying Spaghetti monster to coach a level about faith. inspite of sounding stupid and satirical, we attempt to describe that their is not any more suitable evidence for God than there is for the FSM.

Answer 7

Its to prove that Gods are obscure. Zeus works fine though.

And because the Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster is a good read.

Answer 8

The main point is that if schools are required to teach religious alternatives to real science in science classes then they'd better teach the FSM beliefs and thousands of others as well, as they're all equally fictitious.

Answer 9

You have to watch south park if you want to understand the joke about it. Basically in one episode, Richard Dawkins said that you might as well believe in a flying spaghetti monster if you believe in god, cause both are equally plausible. No, we don't believe it. We just think it's funny as all get out.

Answer 10

The point is that the Flying Spaghetti Monster is just as real as God.