2018-12-24:
Flying Spaghetti Monster

The Flying Spaghetti Monster is the deity of a satirical religion called Pastafarianism, a movement that opposes teaching of intelligent design and creationism in schools.

The FSM was invented by then 24-year-old Bobby Henderson in 2005, in an open letter to the Kansas State Board of Education, arguing that intelligent design and his belief that "the universe was created by a Flying Spaghetti Monster" were equally valid:

I think we can all look forward to the time when these three theories are given equal time in our science classrooms across the country, and eventually the world; one third time for Intelligent Design, one third time for Flying Spaghetti Monsterism, and one third time for logical conjecture based on overwhelming observable evidence.

When he received no reply from the Board, he published his letter on the Internet, and word quickly spread, and was picked up by mainstream media.

By now, there's a whole canon of Pastafarian beliefs, later published in Henderson's book The Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster: The FSM created the universe "after drinking heavily", which is the cause for its many flaws. Pastafarian heaven is depicted having a beer vulcano and a stripper factory. Pirates are viewed as "peace-loving explorers and spreaders of good will" , and the legend that they are thieves and outcasts is supposed to be misinformation spread by Christian theologians. Their decline is correlated with global warming and other natural disasters. Pastafarians celebrate each Friday as a holy day, and conclude prayers with the word "R'amen".

Several people have obtained driver's licenses and passports displaying photos of them wearing a pasta strainer, which is considered a religious headgear.

And that concludes this year's edition of the Advent Calendar of Curiosities. If you enjoyed this, you can throw coins at me on Patreon! Thanks for reading, and have a great 2019! <3