plawolf
Lieutenant General
Ladies and Gentlemen THIS IS WHAT THIS THREAD WAS CRATED FOR!!!
Seriously WTHeck! look If you want to wear a colander on your head, More power two You... Personally It just gets in the Way. But if you want to then say it's A Religion... Seriously... A parody Religion?! That is now Recognized by the State ( of mass)?
I am Agnostic So I walk that fine line of Believing and not. And I live In Massachusetts but the only Time I ever Wore a colander on my head was when I was playing war as a kid. I believe in tolerance but up to a point. If you want to create a Parody To Basically insult the Entirety of Belief by Proclaiming that a Flying Spaghetti monster is a basis of a spiritual belief then In your case... I think you deserve a kick in the head.
I too am Agnostic, I agree its silly, but I take a very different view to you on how mainstream religious groups are entitled to feel.
What gives religious people the right to be offended by what someone else believes in, even if it is a flying spaghetti monster?
Its not like the group specifically mocks any one religion or another with its beliefs. Charlie Hebdo did that and its fine apparently, Monty Python kinda flirts with it with another and that was fine too. The Pastafarians are far less direct with their challenge to orthodox religions.
Its not an anti-XYZ group set up specifically to parody, mock or insult specific religious beliefs, they just simply believe a flying spaghetti monster is as likely to be god as any of the mainstream versions, and I see nothing wrong with that.
People should be free to believe what they want so long as they do not prejudice anyone else in doing so.
Thus I think believing in a flying Spaghetti Monster god is far less morally objectionable than ascribing to commonly accepted mainstream religious institutions' beliefs that opening prejudice and discriminates against people for just choosing to live and enjoy their lives in the way that makes them most happy (think gays, divorcees and even non-believes in general).
The only way anyone could think that the Pastafarians are an insult to religion is if they think the belief in a god is more valid than the beliefs of Atheists and Agnostics, and I find that kind of thought to be highly morally objectionable, and I think that this the entire point of the Pastafarians.
They are highlighting that the true irony to religious discrimination is that while it is illegal to discriminate against someone because of their religious belief, it is not only not illegal, but often positively encouraged for people of faith to discriminate against the beliefs of those without faith, or who's beliefs are not deemed as "officially religious". That is just as bad as the kind of religious discrimination people of faith often complain about.