I wrote the Open Letter sometime around January of 2005 and posted it online several months later after receiving no reply from the Kansas School Board. Within days of posting it online, the letter became an internet phenomenon, generating tens of thousands of visits each day, as well as personal responses from the school board members themselves. To date (July 2010), the venganza website has received tens of millions of visits. This website operates on a dedicated server which lives in Sweden. I’ve received over 60,000 emails in response to the letter.

The letter, after making the rounds on the internet for months, was printed in several large newspapers, including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Chicago Sun Times, and many others. The newspaper articles caught the attention of book publishers, and at one point there were six publishers interested in getting the Word of the Flying Spaghetti Monster out to the public. In the end, the Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster was released by Random House in March of 2006.

It’s now been several years since the FSM phenomenon started and it seems that there is a staying power that no one had anticipated. Future goals for the church include becoming recognized as a legitimate religious organization with all inherit benefits *and tax loopholes* that the mainstream religions enjoy.

Please leave me a comment on the Letter, the FSM movement as a whole, or whatever you like. Thanks,

-Bobby

4,300 thoughts on “Comment on the Open Letter”

  1. flamenco says:

    @ Joe – Joe you have a point – but the FSM is in existence because of the very real attempt to meddle by the proponents of creationism and christianity – insisting that schools teach creationism in SCIENCE lessons. That is REAL meddling.

    A big problem for christianity (and pretty well all other organised religions – of whatever flavour) is that they seem to spend a lot of energy doing just that – meddling – in what other people think, teach, believe and say.

    Where religious people simply quielty get on with their own believing – ok – they’re not the people the FSM was brought into existence for.

    It’s the psychotic religious nutters who should fear his noodly appendage wiggling its way towards them in the dread dead of dark night…

  2. plumberbob says:

    @ 4287 – joe,

    I agree with much of what you’re saying, but please remember that this is our website, and the hate mailers are preaching their mythology here without our invitation.

    Since our purpose is the exclusion of religious superstition from the public school science curricula, and the hate mailers usually feel entitled to have said nonsense taught as science, they are most certainly impeding our lives and beliefs.

    Therefore, at this site, we feel it is entirely appropriate to use whatever verbal abuse, satire, and parody that these uninvited, and often ignorant, illiterate, and hateful pawns are asking for. Please be assured that we do not troll their websites preaching to them; it is forbidden by our published Gospel.

    RAmen

  3. Drained and Washed Clean says:

    Joe,

    The only reason we are sharing our opinions about other people’s religion is because they share with us how stupid they think we are, and how glad they are that we will be suffering for eternity in hell. When people come here and bash us they are not leaving us alone. So, no. I will not sit here and not defend myself and my beliefs. People of religion are not the only ones who are allowed to share their opinions, even though everyone else seems to think they are above criticism. Religion should be put under just as much scrutiny as anything else, and when they are disrespectful then they should expect to be disrespected back.

    I don’t run around to churches and tell everyone they are stupid for believing in an invisible sky zombie daddy. But somehow it is ok for all of them to come here? Please Joe. Explain to me why you are talking to us when I assume that you are not talking to any of them. I don’t strike first. I just strike back.

    And right now you are impeding on my life and beliefs, so back off. If you hate meddlers so much then you must have awful self-loathing issues.

  4. just a girl says:

    I find this (as an argument for not teaching intelligent design) BRILLIANT.

    For the record, the Catholic Church is OK with evolution (and, unfortunately, a lot of other things that I’m not so OK with). As a 13 year attendee of Catholic schools, I must say intelligent design was NEVER taught. Creation was mentioned, obviously, in religion class; BOTH of the creation stories in our Bible, indicating from the get-go that the Bible is an imperfect book written by imperfect people with the best “facts” they have at the time. Morality and civility expected by students in all classes, of course, but religion class was 100% separate from other classes.

    Biology reviewed the history of creation, from “Uh, God made it as is”, to Lamark, to Darwin, and subsequent refining of his concept.

    We got better sex ed and information on birth control than most public school students seem to get, too. “Abstinence is best, but these are the various birth controls and how they work.”

    We had world religion classes, too. I, at least, learned to be a very open minded thinker with my “religious” education.

    Advantages of parochial education? Self discipline. Oh, and I understood and recognized Christ symbolism in Literature classes, while many of my contemporaries in college were at a loss. Made American Lit pretty hard for them. I do feel some contextual religion needs to be taught if only to explain Western civilization, its history, why there were crusades, etc.

    I for one plan to make a bumper sticker: Evolution does NOT exclude God

  5. able semen says:

    #4287 – joe

    Which religion does not “impede on anyone elses lives or beliefs”?
    Christianity persecuted unbelievers for years and would do now if they had half the chance; Islam, well I don’t have to say anything there do I; Judaism – they think they are god’s gift. The list goes on…

    They are all dangerous and delusional and I do not want them affecting my family’s lives thank you very much.

    Religion is stupid – there is absolutely no rational reason to believe that there is any sort of deity or supernatural influence.

  7. aeyuth prazzelt says:

    Mishler, come join us, you seem lost my friend. i don’t know exactly how lost, but I bet you $100 you did not take any biology classes in any college. Of course I exclude from the bet any bible college whose professors have to swear and oath to keep their blinders on regardless of what we call “evidence”, what your (current) peeps should call “the living god”, point to.
    if the living god is not your own moment by moment experience, believe me, he’s useless.

    like I said:
    come join us. we will welcome you with open arms. we are all good people. and we will have a lot of fun together partying in hell ;)

  9. able semen says:

    #4287 – joe

    Oh, and stop meddling! I can’t stand people who don’t like meddling meddling.

  10. Somebody says:

    Hi, i read your letter to the Kansas school board and i really think you are absolutely hilarious! I think its really funny (but kind of stupid) how people get so wound up about this stuff, i mean take a joke!

    WWTFSMD?
    What Would The Flying Spaghetti Monster Do?

    to pastafariens everywhere
    Somebody

    P.S sorry about any grammatical mistakes

  12. elcidney says:

    I now know why I hate sphagetti, deep in my subconcious!! I know its wrong to eat god’s appendages.
    Theres nothing wrong with the idea that humans tamed dinasours, we still have plenty of them roaming our streets, usually stuffing their faces with fast food.
    As for any relgion, create by conmen looking for an easy life, just look at the size of the priests houses in Ireland.
    Forget god, gravity will get you in the end, 6 foot under :-(

    All hail the sphagetti god

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