But the judge says he isn't probing "the validity of Cavanaugh's beliefs," and his ruling is supposed to apply either way. It is overwhelmingly likely that Cavanaugh understands that Pastafarianism is a joke and that he filed his suit to make mischief. In a footnote, Judge Gerrard acknowledges that there is in fact a Church of All Worlds inspired by Robert Heinlein's novel Stranger in a Strange Land, but he distinguishes that from the Cavanaugh case on the grounds that "Cavanaugh does not allege allegiance to any comparable organization-he simply relies on the FSM Gospel, taken at face value." And in that case, Gerrard feels entitled to fall back on authorial intent: Pastafarianism was created as a parody, and therefore it need not be treated as sincere. The Court concludes that FSMism is on the far side of that line. But there must be a line beyond which a practice is not "religious" simply because a plaintiff labels it as such. Of course, there are those who contend-and Cavanaugh is probably among them-that the Bible or the Koran are just as fictional as those books. A prisoner could just as easily read the works of Vonnegut or Heinlein and claim it as his holy book, and demand accommodation of Bokononism or the Church of All Worlds. To read it as religious doctrine would be little different from grounding a "religious exercise" on any other work of fiction. The FSM Gospel is plainly a work of satire, meant to entertain while making a pointed political statement. This is not a question of theology: it is a matter of basic reading comprehension. And it is no more tenable to read the FSM Gospel as proselytizing for supernatural spaghetti than to read Jonathan Swift's "Modest Proposal" as advocating cannibalism. The Court is well aware that it "should not undertake to dissect religious beliefs because the believer admits that he is struggling with his position or because his beliefs are not articulated with clarity and precision that a more sophisticated person might employ." It is worth noting, however, that aside from identifying, Cavanaugh has not alleged anything about what it is that he actually believes-leaving the Court to read the book. It bears emphasizing that the Court is not engaged in-and has been careful to avoid-questioning the validity of Cavanaugh's beliefs. For example: Flying Spaghetti Monster Wiki In a ruling that considers the First Amendment, the Constitution's equal protection clause, the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, and the Nebraska state constitution, Judge Gerrard decided to side with the prison, drawing a number of tricky philosophical distinctions along the way. When Cavanaugh asked his jailers to accommodate his alleged faith, they rejected his request on the grounds that Pastafarianism is a parody religion, not a real religion. His mock-faith quickly grew from a secularist in-joke to an internet memefest, and the Spaghetti Monster now occupies as honored a place in the web-culture pantheon as Slenderman and Leeroy Jenkins. Evidently one of its fans is Stephen Cavanaugh, an inmate at the Nebraska State Penitentiary.
"I and many others around the world are of the strong belief that the universe was created by a Flying Spaghetti Monster," he wrote to the state board of education, urging that this perspective receive equal time. The author of that gospel, Bobby Henderson, first told the world about the Flying Spaghetti Monster in 2005, after Kansas started teaching the idea of "intelligent design" alongside evolution.
#Is there a pastafarian bible full
Gerrard ruled this week, responding to a Nebraska man's claim that as a Pastafarian-that is, a worshipper of the Flying Spaghetti Monster-he was entitled to have his religious practices accommodated, including "the ability to order and wear religious clothing." He didn't spell out what exactly that means, but as the court notes, The Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster states that "it is disrespectful to teach our beliefs without wearing His chosen outfit, which of course is full Pirate regalia." It's official: The Constitution does not give prisoners the right to wear a pirate costume.
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