When ‘Religious Liberty’ Meets The Flying Spaghetti Monster

steamboat28 wrote:

Snowy Aftermath wrote:

Luthien wrote: I've never met a mean-spirited FSM follower

You realize that the entire point of the FSM is a mean-spirited parody of christianity, yes?

Well, as a satirical counterpoint to the moronic idea that religious dogma should be taught in science classes...

I do wish that was as far as it went

As Steam said, I've never encountered mean-spirited FSM folk. They were created not as a mean-spirited parody, but as a mirror to the... would I call it mean-spirited? No... bloody-mindedness of religious adherents who feel they have a right to shove their own beliefs down other people's throats, on no other basis than because they happen to believe something (specifically the teaching of creationism in schools alongside scientific ideas).

Dismissing FSM folk as mean spirited seems to me in a very important and fundamental way no different to dismissing Christians as mean-spirited... dismissing Jews as mean-spirited... dismissing Jedi as mean-spirited. I'm sure there are mean-spirited people in all those groups, but it is not a necessary quality that one must be mean-spirited to follow them, thus is an unreasonable generalisation. Believing we can infer something about a person's personality from their declared religion? Well, surely each of our experiences with Jediism has shown us that's not sensible.

Maybe some people follow FSM because they think he looks funny? I mean... I'm tempted...

Stu, the point is that there are no "FSM folk".
I gave you guys the facts and you're being goofy about it.
There's being open-minded, then there's being intentionally blind.

I give up this time.

Luthien wrote: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

no one was spreading and good or well wishes

Well wishes are a requirement for religions to be considered legitimate? Really? I've never met a mean-spirited FSM follower, nor have I encountered anyone of that influence who wished me harm. They always wished me well...

I find the monsters intent is a very foolish toss at common religion. Not my cup of tea. The intent is always clear.

Not always. There may be a different intent than you make up in your own mind. Do I sense prejudgment?

U r probably right. Hmm good catch, funny how things like that make me closed quick. Interesting. Thank u?! I guess every sect has their fair share of light grey and dark Hu?

Snowy Aftermath wrote: Stu, the point is that there are no "FSM folk".
I gave you guys the facts and you're being goofy about it.
There's being open-minded, then there's being intentionally blind.

I give up this time.

No need to "give up"... it's not a fight

You think I'm missing your point, and I'm not. I totally understand what you're saying and where you're coming from, and I happen to disagree. That's OK. I'm just reminding you that generalising any group of people as holding certain qualities of personality is not sensible... even people engaged in something you don't agree with. People are individuals and their motivations, ideas about things and principles are all inherently different.

If you don't agree with the FSM phenomenon, that's fine... if you believe there aren't people out there who define themselves along those lines, you're mistaken... I've met a few

To expand a point in my other post, I could read our doctrine and see the "headline grabbing" elements of what we do and say "All Jedi are peace-loving, courageous and utterly naive". And I trust we've both spoken to enough Jedi to realise that's not true

Snowy Aftermath wrote: I gave you guys the facts and you're being goofy about it.

No one's being goofy about it. We're sharing facts on the "religion's" origin. It is a fact that the "religion" was first started in 2005 by Bobby Henderson in protest of a Kansas State Board of Education decision to allow the teaching of creationism as an alternative to evolution in its classrooms. Henderson took the opportunity to satirize the ludicrous nature of the discussion itself, taking the creationism "equal time" argument to its logical conclusion for the sake of providing the very proper opinion that religion should not be taught as science in the classroom.

Your experiences with FSM "adherents", or the Invisible Pink Unicorn faith, or any of the other atheist/agnostic placeholder tropes are a valid condemnation of modern anti-theism, but do not have a bearing on the initial intent of the FSM "doctrine," which was to highlight that if any religion were to be taught as scientific fact, all would have to be.

Luthien wrote: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

no one was spreading and good or well wishes

Well wishes are a requirement for religions to be considered legitimate? Really? I've never met a mean-spirited FSM follower, nor have I encountered anyone of that influence who wished me harm. They always wished me well...

I find the monsters intent is a very foolish toss at common religion. Not my cup of tea. The intent is always clear.

Not always. There may be a different intent than you make up in your own mind. Do I sense prejudgment?

I think there is a small form involved. Good catch. I am familiar with doctrine and knowledge, I long to meet people who are excited about their beliefs. I do apologize if there was a harmful form of prejudice, never my intention. There are many forms of pre judgment. I would hope the countless encounters ive had is not considered "pre" or a form of missing information. I would hope a organization built from a lot of defence could build as much as they possibly can. To me personally there are very few tools and organization. Ive searched for clergy, none, ive searched for some form of organization, leadership, very far and few. They exist, I hope, but I haven't found any yet. I haven't found a many of things so that doesn't say they don't exist. I accept the ideas and others but its hard for me personally to place this one in the same catagorie as others in my own path, is all. I try not to pre judge much but I Have been diligent. If there are any lights at the end of this tunnel I would LOVE to meet them. Honestly, I got a lot of serious questions I would ask over tea. There is a light grey and dark to every sect. I admit. Do I accept them most definatly! Valid? yes, to those who believe it and choose that path. To me , it seems like a publicity stunt most of the time or a cry for attention in which case it no longer is spiritual but a individuals cry for help or attention and in which case there are plenty of those in every religion.

Don't forget about the Discordians. Never forget!

P.S.: I am being goofy about it, but in a very serious way.

http://m.townhall.com/tipsheet/christinerousselle/2016/04/14/judge-rules-church-of-the-flying-spaghetti-monster-isnt-a-real-religion-n2148599

So...

steamboat28 wrote:

Snowy Aftermath wrote: I gave you guys the facts and you're being goofy about it.

No one's being goofy about it.

Not you, Steamboat.

Edit: You're talking about it's origin. I agree that it originated as what you say. I retract my statement that it started off as something mean-spirited. How about this: what it almost immediately became and the way it has been used to belittle the beliefs of others since 2005 is what I'm talking about.

Better?