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ENLARGE
More than meatballs: Roseburg native Bobby Henderson’s ‘Flying Spaghetti Monster’ Web site has become an Internet sensation, with more than 30 million hits in
the past few months. The site claims that the universe was
created by a Flying Spaghetti Monster, in a parody of
Intelligent Design.
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ENLARGE
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Parody: Roseburg native Bobby Henderson’s ‘Flying Spaghetti Monster’ Web site has taken over the Internet, spawning fan art and parodies, such as this ‘X-Files’ homage.
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Roseburg native Bobby Henderson didn't mean to start a religion.
But a strange Web site he created has spread worldwide, sending visions of a Flying Spaghetti Monster into the minds of millions -- and becoming embroiled in the national debate over teaching intelligent design in schools.
Henderson and his growing legion of followers -- "Pastafarians" -- say they believe the universe was created by a giant Flying Spaghetti Monster, a clump of tangled spaghetti with two eyes, two meatballs and "noodly appendages."
It's a joke, kind of. But it depends on who you ask.
"The Flying Spaghetti Monster revealed Himself to me, telling me to spread the word," Henderson said in an e-mail interview.
The Spaghetti Monster is sweeping the Internet -- since the site came online just a few months ago, Henderson has recorded more than 30 million hits. The monster has received press in countless Internet blogs and other Web sites, as well as newspapers including The New York Times and Washington Post.
"I think the site spreading is mostly through word-of-mouth and e-mail," Henderson said.
A search on Google for "Flying Spaghetti Monster" comes up with more than 650,000 hits.
With total seriousness, Henderson and the Pastafarians say that if "alternatives" to evolution such as intelligent design must be taught in schools, then the Spaghetti Monster deserves equal time.
The Web site -- www.venganza.org -- features letters, games, scientific testimonials, fan art and a forum where more than 1,000 members debate the finer points of Pastafarianism, which include sprawling scripture about pirates, beer volcanoes and more.
Henderson, 25, was born in Roseburg and is a 1999 graduate of Roseburg High School. An Eagle Scout, he received a bachelor of science in physics at Oregon State University in Corvallis in 2003. He's been dividing his time between Roseburg and Corvallis as he searches for a job.
His father, Rod Henderson of Roseburg, said the Web site's success took him off guard.
"It's amazing, actually that something like this could get the following and response that it's getting. It's bizarre," Rod Henderson said. Bobby's mother, Linda Henderson, also lives in Roseburg.
But a strange Web site he created has spread worldwide, sending visions of a Flying Spaghetti Monster into the minds of millions -- and becoming embroiled in the national debate over teaching intelligent design in schools.
Henderson and his growing legion of followers -- "Pastafarians" -- say they believe the universe was created by a giant Flying Spaghetti Monster, a clump of tangled spaghetti with two eyes, two meatballs and "noodly appendages."
It's a joke, kind of. But it depends on who you ask.
"The Flying Spaghetti Monster revealed Himself to me, telling me to spread the word," Henderson said in an e-mail interview.
The Spaghetti Monster is sweeping the Internet -- since the site came online just a few months ago, Henderson has recorded more than 30 million hits. The monster has received press in countless Internet blogs and other Web sites, as well as newspapers including The New York Times and Washington Post.
"I think the site spreading is mostly through word-of-mouth and e-mail," Henderson said.
A search on Google for "Flying Spaghetti Monster" comes up with more than 650,000 hits.
With total seriousness, Henderson and the Pastafarians say that if "alternatives" to evolution such as intelligent design must be taught in schools, then the Spaghetti Monster deserves equal time.
The Web site -- www.venganza.org -- features letters, games, scientific testimonials, fan art and a forum where more than 1,000 members debate the finer points of Pastafarianism, which include sprawling scripture about pirates, beer volcanoes and more.
Henderson, 25, was born in Roseburg and is a 1999 graduate of Roseburg High School. An Eagle Scout, he received a bachelor of science in physics at Oregon State University in Corvallis in 2003. He's been dividing his time between Roseburg and Corvallis as he searches for a job.
His father, Rod Henderson of Roseburg, said the Web site's success took him off guard.
"It's amazing, actually that something like this could get the following and response that it's getting. It's bizarre," Rod Henderson said. Bobby's mother, Linda Henderson, also lives in Roseburg.
The Flying Spaghetti Monster has a fan base, but it's also earned Henderson some hate mail.
<b>SPAGHETTI AND INTELLIGENT DESIGN</b>
Here's where parody and reality converge.
Infuriated by proposals to teach the evolution alternative intelligent design in schools, Henderson fired off a letter to the Kansas Board of Education in response to its plans to allow evolution and intelligent design to be taught side-by-side.
He says if intelligent design gets class time, so too should the Spaghetti Monster.
"If the intelligent design theory is not based on faith, but instead another scientific theory, as is claimed, then you must also allow our theory to be taught, as it is also based on science, not on faith," Henderson wrote in his letter to the school board.
Henderson sent his letter -- "It was a spur of the moment thing, written and mailed in less than an hour," he said -- and heard nothing.
"I only posted it online after receiving no responses from the (board)," he said. "They might wish they had responded then, as I have it on good authority that they've now received over 1,000 e-mails from FSM supporters."
He's since received some sympathetic e-mails from a few members of the Kansas School Board -- posted on his Web site -- although no word on a decision to allow the Spaghetti Monster and the Holy Bible to share a classroom. Links from popular Web sites such as fark.com, boingboing.net and others have helped spread the word.
"It was actually a very clever satire, really getting at the heart of the argument why creationism probably should not be taught as a science," Rod Henderson said of his son's letter.
Sure, it's a lump of sentient pasta Henderson's promoting, but he's dead serious about his disdain for teaching intelligent design.
"It's scary that Bush supports teaching I.D. in science classrooms," he said. "It's clearly an effort to appeal to the religious right, but that's no excuse."
As the Web site has grown, it's attracted more acolytes. Luke Bovard of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, acts as one of the moderators for the site's message boards. More than 1,100 people are now registered members of the site's online family.
"My dream would be for the community to grow and have possible gatherings around the world," Bovard wrote in an e-mail interview. "That would be cool. I mean if something like this can bring together that many people, I would be very impressed and pretty excited."
While most of the Web site visitors are friendly, Henderson has had some who don't see the humor in a ball of noodles creating the cosmos.
Henderson has a spot on his Web site for "non-positive" e-mail, including one telling him to "blow off his (expletive) face with a shotgun" or another suggesting his genitals be eaten by mutant mice.
"I am not too worried about the angry religious people who e-mail me," Henderson said. "Ninety-nine-point-nine percent of religious people are not nuts, and most of them understand that the FSM project is not an attack on religion, only on dogma."
<b>THE ENLIGHTENMENT AWAITS</b>
To handle the huge volume of traffic, Henderson has leased a dedicated server. He also sells Flying Spaghetti Monster T-shirts, posters, coffee mugs and other paraphernalia through the site. That helps pay for the server, "with enough left over to avoid a cubicle for a while longer."
<b>SPAGHETTI AND INTELLIGENT DESIGN</b>
Here's where parody and reality converge.
Infuriated by proposals to teach the evolution alternative intelligent design in schools, Henderson fired off a letter to the Kansas Board of Education in response to its plans to allow evolution and intelligent design to be taught side-by-side.
He says if intelligent design gets class time, so too should the Spaghetti Monster.
"If the intelligent design theory is not based on faith, but instead another scientific theory, as is claimed, then you must also allow our theory to be taught, as it is also based on science, not on faith," Henderson wrote in his letter to the school board.
Henderson sent his letter -- "It was a spur of the moment thing, written and mailed in less than an hour," he said -- and heard nothing.
"I only posted it online after receiving no responses from the (board)," he said. "They might wish they had responded then, as I have it on good authority that they've now received over 1,000 e-mails from FSM supporters."
He's since received some sympathetic e-mails from a few members of the Kansas School Board -- posted on his Web site -- although no word on a decision to allow the Spaghetti Monster and the Holy Bible to share a classroom. Links from popular Web sites such as fark.com, boingboing.net and others have helped spread the word.
"It was actually a very clever satire, really getting at the heart of the argument why creationism probably should not be taught as a science," Rod Henderson said of his son's letter.
Sure, it's a lump of sentient pasta Henderson's promoting, but he's dead serious about his disdain for teaching intelligent design.
"It's scary that Bush supports teaching I.D. in science classrooms," he said. "It's clearly an effort to appeal to the religious right, but that's no excuse."
As the Web site has grown, it's attracted more acolytes. Luke Bovard of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, acts as one of the moderators for the site's message boards. More than 1,100 people are now registered members of the site's online family.
"My dream would be for the community to grow and have possible gatherings around the world," Bovard wrote in an e-mail interview. "That would be cool. I mean if something like this can bring together that many people, I would be very impressed and pretty excited."
While most of the Web site visitors are friendly, Henderson has had some who don't see the humor in a ball of noodles creating the cosmos.
Henderson has a spot on his Web site for "non-positive" e-mail, including one telling him to "blow off his (expletive) face with a shotgun" or another suggesting his genitals be eaten by mutant mice.
"I am not too worried about the angry religious people who e-mail me," Henderson said. "Ninety-nine-point-nine percent of religious people are not nuts, and most of them understand that the FSM project is not an attack on religion, only on dogma."
<b>THE ENLIGHTENMENT AWAITS</b>
To handle the huge volume of traffic, Henderson has leased a dedicated server. He also sells Flying Spaghetti Monster T-shirts, posters, coffee mugs and other paraphernalia through the site. That helps pay for the server, "with enough left over to avoid a cubicle for a while longer."
‘Pastafarianism’
<b>The Flying Spaghetti Monster headquarters:</b>
www.venganza.org Henderson’s entry in the online encyclopedia Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_Spaghetti_Monster <b>Pastafarianism beliefs:</b> • Prayers are ended with the word RAmen rather than Amen. • An official holiday: “Talk Like A Pirate Day,” which is Monday. Online: http://talklikeapirateday.com/ <b>Reasons to convert:</b> • Flimsy moral standards. • Every Friday is a religious holiday. If your work/school objects to that, demand your religious beliefs are respected and threaten to call the ACLU. • Our heaven is WAY better. We’ve got a Stripper Factory AND a Beer Volcano. —Courtesy of Roseburg native Bobby Henderson’s Web site |
Henderson gets hundreds of e-mails a day now. And he's got big plans.
"The next phase will be the creation of an Enlightenment Institute, similar in function to the Intelligent Design Discovery Institute," Henderson said. "I have several scientists lined up already."
First, though, he wants to find a job. The Web site includes a "Hire Me" link featuring Henderson's resume.
He'd been offered a job working in Las Vegas on casino equipment, but he wasn't happy about the location, calling it "the worst place on earth," so he turned it down.
Now, through the site, he's getting all kinds of job leads.
"I'm sure I'll end up with something out of this but I'm trying to avoid having a 'real' job as long as possible," he said.
But what's his dream job?
"Invisible pirate, no question," he said.
Whatever happens to the Flying Spaghetti Monster's creator, enough people have been inspired by the gospel that Pastafarianism seems to have taken on a life all of its own.
Discussions abound on the Web site forums, from goofy messages about "Viking pirate spaghetti" to entirely serious debates on evolutionary theory and world religions.
"Hopefully this will continue," wrote Bovard, the Web site moderator. "... The community will continue to grow and grow so we can have many more intelligent debates about science and many other things."
"Who else knows who needs to be touched by his Noodly Appendage?"
* You can reach Features Editor/Assistant City Editor Nik Dirga at 957-4210 or via e-mail at ndirga@newsreview.info.
"The next phase will be the creation of an Enlightenment Institute, similar in function to the Intelligent Design Discovery Institute," Henderson said. "I have several scientists lined up already."
First, though, he wants to find a job. The Web site includes a "Hire Me" link featuring Henderson's resume.
He'd been offered a job working in Las Vegas on casino equipment, but he wasn't happy about the location, calling it "the worst place on earth," so he turned it down.
Now, through the site, he's getting all kinds of job leads.
"I'm sure I'll end up with something out of this but I'm trying to avoid having a 'real' job as long as possible," he said.
But what's his dream job?
"Invisible pirate, no question," he said.
Whatever happens to the Flying Spaghetti Monster's creator, enough people have been inspired by the gospel that Pastafarianism seems to have taken on a life all of its own.
Discussions abound on the Web site forums, from goofy messages about "Viking pirate spaghetti" to entirely serious debates on evolutionary theory and world religions.
"Hopefully this will continue," wrote Bovard, the Web site moderator. "... The community will continue to grow and grow so we can have many more intelligent debates about science and many other things."
"Who else knows who needs to be touched by his Noodly Appendage?"
* You can reach Features Editor/Assistant City Editor Nik Dirga at 957-4210 or via e-mail at ndirga@newsreview.info.
