As a church that values the separation of religion and politics, we’ve always avoided political messaging. However, recent developments concerning religious freedom compel us to remind our members about the importance of civic participation.
Across the United States, we’re witnessing unprecedented efforts to integrate specific religious teachings into public institutions, particularly schools. While we respect everyone’s right to their religious beliefs, we maintain that public institutions should remain neutral spaces where all beliefs are treated with equal respect.
Recent developments include:
These actions represent a significant shift in how religious content is being integrated into public education, raising important questions about religious freedom and constitutional rights.
While our church maintains strict political neutrality, we encourage all members to participate in the democratic process. Every election cycle brings decisions that affect how our society handles religious diversity and maintains the constitutional separation of church and state.
We encourage you to:
To ensure your voice is heard:
The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster stands for religious freedom and the principle that no single faith should dominate public institutions. We believe that public spaces should remain neutral ground where all beliefs – or none at all – are respected equally.
However, If religion is to be allowed in public institutions, we will demand equal representation for the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster.
Yours in faith,
Bobby
Here is some more reading:
We had a request for an exemption letter to be excused from Zoom meetings. I’m happy to help with official letters, just let me know.
What are some other common ones?
* No work on our religious holidays (Fridays)
Please let me know what we need, I’ll work on making some drafts.
I wanted to share an article I came across recently, published in the Guardian a few years back. The author did a good job of getting what we’re about — it goes a into the origins of the Church and also talks about the more recent work of becoming officially recognized.
Pastafarianism differs from other religions in that it doesn’t solicit funds from its followers, having no hierarchy and no physical places of worship to maintain. Its home is in cyberspace. And the only dogma is that there is no dogma. (Instead of 10 commandments, it offers eight “I’d really rather you didn’ts”.)
“We see FSM groups pop up all over the world,” Henderson says. “New groups might ask advice but they don’t ask permission any more – we’ve seen that change over just 10 years.”
The author captured this friendly jab at the Mormons which I have no memory of saying:
“Could it be that people joined up for other reasons, like self-improvement or polygamy? Who knows. But those scams have grown into huge institutions over time, for better or worse.
“I take from this that religion mainly is about community, and also that members shouldn’t have to justify the absurdity of their gospels. To Mormons, I’m saying it’s OK that your gospel story is nuts.”
Anyways… please take a look at the article. Here it is.
