In Wake of French Terror, Maybe Pastafarians Aren't So Crazy
The surprising relevance of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster
Nov 15, 2015

This is proof that the world has gone bonkers. The end HAS to be near. There is no hope.” Online comment in the Boston Globe, November 13, 2015.

In the wake of Friday night's horrific events in Paris, it’s no surprise that such a comment was posted beneath an online news article. What may surprise you, however, is that the comment wasn’t made in response to a story about the catastrophic violence in France. Instead, the apocalyptic remark was posted under a story about a Massachusetts woman who won the right to wear a spaghetti strainer on her head for her driver’s license photo.

The woman in question, Lindsay Miller, is a Pastafarian, a follower of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster. Pastafarians believe that their creation story—that the universe was made by a Flying Spaghetti Monster, also known as FSM—is as plausible as any other, and have constructed an entire theology around that notion.

At first glance it may seem that the two news stories—the tragic violence in Paris and the lighthearted human interest story from Boston—have little in common; but in fact they interrelate in important ways. Although many commenters have dismissed Miller and other Pastafarians as crackpots, they miss the point that Pastafarianism has something important to offer in today’s distressing world.