Q & A with Bobby Henderson, Creator of the Flying Spaghetti Monster

I’m a regular on the atheism subreddit, a place where I always end up finding some interesting links and thought-provoking discussions. My favorite thread by far has been this one, started about a week ago. It turns out Bobby Henderson is a redditor too and was kind enough to start an ongoing question and answer session about himself and his “religion.” For the uninitiated, Henderson is the creator of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, a creature created to mock the absurdity of organized religion and its followers; people who are willing to put their faith in stories just as absurd as a floating pile of sentient pasta. After posting a letter he wrote to the Kansas State Board of Education on the internet, stating that his belief in the FSM was just as valid as the belief in intelligent design they planned to teach in science classes, the monster became a cultural phenomenon, generating mock followers (“Pastafarians”), its own gospel, and an internet meme that continues to touch more and more people with “its noodly appendage” every day. The more I read about this guy, the more I like him, and this Q & A shows what a genuinely witty class act he is. Some highlights include this…

sfacets
Has your church obtained tax-exempt status yet?

henderob
Nope, still working on it. That is probably the #1 priority in my view.

ropers
What would be the purpose of that? To make a point that the other churches shouldn’t be tax-exempt either?

henderob
Yeah. But you would think that the Church of Scientology would have made that point already.

And this scary, but not surprising, little story…

hodesworthe
you ever get threatened?

henderob
Sometimes, but not many are seriously worrying. There were a few from a guy who seemed unstable.
Once, a guy track down where I lived and tried to get me kicked out of my apartment. Management was told I was running a cult. The police were called, also.

CuriousCumMonster
Dude, what happened after that? I CAN HAZ MOAR DETAILS?
For what it’s worth, I’m a 23 year old Math/Physics double major, and after coming across your article regarding the inverse relationship between pirates and the global average temperature (Henderson, B., & Jack, S .H. T. (2010) . On the effects of global pirate density in regards to global warming. American Family Wench, 78, 398-399.), I was immediately converted. I am no longer subscribed to false idols.
These days I sacrifice chubby white Christian babbys to the FSM.

henderob
Haha ..
We tracked down the guy making death threats and had a serious talk with him (and his boss). He had been having a rough year; he googled something like “God, tell me what to do” and ended up at the Church of the FSM site. He felt mocked so he lashed out at me. Once he realized he wasn’t anonymous anymore he apologized and that was the end of it.

Yes, god apparently talks through Google searches. It’s one long-ass thread, but trust me, it’s worth the read. Check it out and be converted.