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There have been many opposing viewpoints in the matter of religion. The most recent and some would say most controversial of these is the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster (FSM), a belief structure that was brought to light by Bobby Henderson in 2005. The Church has been ridiculed and questioned since its first mention in the Open Letter to the Kansas School Board, written by Mr.

Henderson, in response to the addition of Intelligent Design to the school's curriculum. I.D. is the belief that an otherworldly being created the universe as part of a grand plan. It is a counter-theory to Darwin's evolutionary belief.

Despite any ill thoughts about the beliefs it has been steadily growing, recalling almost 900,000 pages on the noodly creator at last check.

The following is a direct quote from the Open Letter explaining the reasoning behind introducing Pastafarianism (as the belief is called by its followers) into the school's curriculum;

"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." Bobby Henderson

Recently I had the opportunity to interview Mr. Henderson, asking him to explain his beliefs.

Q: Please briefly explain Pastafarianism.

A) Pastafarianism is a religion. We believe the universe was created by a
Flying Spaghetti Monster, and that he actively changes our view of reality;
for example, we believe that the earth is thousands of years old even though
our measurements tell us otherwise; we believe that he has changed our
measurements. We don't question it (you don't question matters of faith).

Q) The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster has grown quite a following
since the Open Letter to the Kansas School Board was published. Were you
surprised at the popularity of your beliefs?

A) Yes I am surprised at staying power of Pastafarianism. Every once and a
while I get an email from people telling me to "let it die". But it's not
me - The world has embraced Pastafarianism, and I couldn't stop it if I
wanted to. I am pleased at the growth - I fully expect we will be come the
largest religion in the world in a few hundred years.

Q) Many people claim that Pastafarianism was created solely as an assault
to the Christians. How do you respond to this?

A) FSM was not created as an assault on Christianity or any other religion.
You could make the argument that it was to assault dogma and religion's

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