A Minister of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, Christopher Schaeffer, has become the latest member of the Pomfret New York Town Council, marking the first time in America’s history that an openly Pastafarian politician has been sworn into office.
For those not familiar with Pastafarianism, it’s a satirically-natured, quasi-religious group that opposes creationism. It was born in 2005 when the Church’s creator, Bobby Henderson, wrote an open letter to the Kansas Board of Education saying that his made-up theory about a Flying Spaghetti Monster creating all life on Earth was just as legitimate as the logic behind religious intelligent design. It went viral online, and now the Church dedicated to the floating pasta creature has established a legitimate and dedicated following.
As expected, Schaeffer’s beliefs kind of startled parts of mainstream America, especially when he chose to wear his Church’s traditional headgear – a colander – during his swearing in ceremony. People assumed he was taking the piss, but Schaeffer insists his ‘bizarre decision’ was sending a serious message.
“It’s just a statement about religious freedom,” said Schaeffer when speaking to the Observer about his faith. “It’s a religion without any dogma.”
This new town councilman wore a colander to his swearing in ceremony http://t.co/wZ4Bh956KF pic.twitter.com/AQlnLhbyiF
— Caitlin Mac Neal (@caitlinmacneal) January 6, 2014
This is so 2014.
[Via.]
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