Pastafarianism: The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster

Pastafarianism was created in 2005 when Bobby Henderson sent a letter (posted to his website) to the Kansas State Board of Education. This letter was sent as a response to the Board's decision to allow creationist teachings in public school classrooms. "Bishop" Henderson's letter demanded that a fair amount of time was given to his "religion", Pastafarianism, in class lessons if religious teachings were to be permitted. The note went viral, becoming widely used as a way to oppose intelligent design and creationist teachings in public schools. Hendersons religion has grown to have its own Condiments (commandments) AKA the "I really rather you didn'ts", hierarchy, scripture, and deity: the infamous Flying Spaghetti Monster. The global following that this "religion" has accrued has created some interesting additions to the made up religion. Some examples of these include religious headgear (Pictured above), wedding ceremonies, and several prayers (concluded with R'amen... of course). Henderson has also come out with a website dedicated to the religion and its detailed 5000 year history of the earth, the pirate ancestors of modern humans, and the Flying Spaghetti Monster. The trend has also sparked some other legal debates. Hendersons initial plan to challenge the religious influence by the government ended up going beyond the classroom and motivated a nationwide - and even global - movement for government reform. Pastafarians around the country began to take ID photos wearing "religious headgear", plan religious affiliated marriages, and other such measures. One case of this occured in 2007 when Brian Killian challenged his high schools dress code by wearing "pirate regalia" to class as an expression of his faith. When he was suspended, he formally challenged the suspension at the Buncombe County School Board citing his first amendment rights to freedom of religion. Although Killian served the remainder of the suspension, the actions inspired changes to the BCSB rules regarding religious expression in their schools. Although satirical, the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster has helped inspire some meaningful change in legislation in favor of religious freedom in america and abroad.