The twentieth century brought religious freedom to most countries of the world. People were given the opportunity to independently choose which god to believe in and which religious rites to follow. One of the first to use it was the Tatars, scattered throughout the CIS countries, who began to return en masse to the faith of their ancestors. In addition, many parents began to abandon the early baptism of their children, arguing that descendants must consciously come to God and choose their own spiritual path.
All kinds of charlatans took an active position, creating an abundance of sects and pseudo-religious teachings, aimed mainly at replenishing the creators' wallets at the expense of a trusting flock.
However, the most interesting trend is the so-called Church of the Flying Pasta Monster (it is also Pastafarianism). Moreover, two factors at once: firstly, it does not seek to steal funds from its supporters, and secondly, until the world community has come to a consensus that it is a global joke or a serious religious trend.
Several different views
Some people believe that the Church of the Flying Pasta Monster is a well-reasoned spiritual teaching that has a solid philosophical, scientific and religious foundation. Moreover, they assert that pastafarianism is more substantiated in its essence than the vast majority of other religions.
The bulk of the people refers to the Church of the Flying Pasta Monster as a good joke, almost an April Fool’s rally. They can be understood: the external accessories of this religion are very comical.
Supporters of traditional churches (primarily, Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant) perceive the new doctrine as an abuse of their symbols and codes, a mockery of everything that is sacred to them.
The History of Pastafarianism
Believing in a pasta monster itself is very young. It arose only in 2005 through the efforts of a certain Robert (Bobby) by the name of Henderson. He was very indignant at the compulsory study at school of a course of “Intelligent Design”, similar to the lessons of the word of God in pre-revolutionary Russia. This concept was supposed to replace evolutionary theory.
The future prophet, whom he later declared the Church of the Pasta Monster, said that there is no evidence that the Lord created the world. Therefore, we can just as well consider that pasta with meatballs took part in its creation . So the founder of the new movement called for him to study in all schools on a par with other subjects.
Name Meaning
Initially, the religion of the pasta monster was conceived as a parody and protest. This is reflected in the name of pastafarianism. The first part comes from pasta (tracing paper from Italian), the second - from Jamaican Rastafarian. Pasta - this is understandable, yet the creator of existence is a pasta monster. But the ideas of the religion of Jamaica have somewhat changed. If marijuana is part of the faith on that island, then in pastafarianism it was replaced by a beer cult.
Key points of the new religion
The basic principle of the Church of the Flying Pasta Monster is the unprovability and irrefutability of any postulates. Her followers are convinced that any proof of something has been rigged by the creator himself, who, although insensible, remains valid to this day. That is, finding a scientific proof of the hypothesis put forward, the scientist does not really get the exact result as he thinks, but what the pasta monster himself wants to see or show to the person.
The indestructible dogma of pastafarianism is the complete denial of all and all dogmas.
Everyone will go to heaven, regardless of faith. A flying pasta monster (the official site states this definitely) is indifferent to whether the person was his supporter. And in paradise everyone is waiting for a beer volcano, to which anyone can attach. Another “strip factory” has been promised, but somehow it’s not very clear what it is.
Pastafarians have their own analogue of the procession, called pastoral; each prayer ends with the word “ramen” (a symbiosis of classical amen and the name of Japanese soup with the same pasta). Those who are close to believing in a pasta monster consider pirates to be saints whose bad reputation is due to being lied to.
Holy book lmm
2006 made the world happy by creating the Gospel of the Flying Pasta Monster. And not just written, but also published in a fairly large circulation. It declared Friday the main holiday, which is not necessary to celebrate. However, it should be celebrated by doing nothing at all.
Pastafarians paid tribute not only to Christianity. They have a ramindan holiday that looks suspiciously like ramadan. This day you need to eat instant noodles. Halloween and pirate day are also celebrated, probably in return for the Catholic Day of All Saints.
The Gospel of the Macaroni Monster endowed its followers with the commandments, which are not fundamental at the same time, since this teaching generally denies dogma.
Commandments of Pastafarianism
They are stated more likely in the form of recommendations: “it would be better not to do something.” There are 8 of them, and some of them are somewhat similar to the Christian commandments, only set out in a softer, more humorous and modern tradition. In principle, the result of these recommendations can be reduced to two points: behave well and enjoy life. If the first is completely consistent with Christianity, then the second fundamentally contradicts it.
The most zealous follower
The most active faith in the Pasta Monster is professed by a resident of Austria, who for three years fought with the bureaucratic apparatus of his country for the right to be with a colander on his head in a photograph for a driver’s license. He was able to prove that this kitchen appliance is an integral part of his religious garment, and in the end he proudly showed the world his “headdress” and the photo on it.
We can say that the Austrian completely fulfilled the duty to his faith: he brought to nonsense and absurdity the most ordinary everyday process.
The spread of pastafarianism in the world: Russia
Gradually, a new religion expands its territory of distribution. Russia became a fertile ground for it, where they always liked to joke themselves, able to appreciate the scope of someone else's rally, and the joys of life in the form of beer and idleness also do not leave Russians indifferent.
At first, there were not so many pastafarians on Russian territory, but in January 2011 their site began to work. At the end of spring, there were already two thousand virtual supporters of the Flying Pasta Monster. Certificates for believers began to be issued. A new teaching in Russia began to gain momentum. In 2013, it was already possible to talk about registering the Church of the Flying Pasta Monster in Moscow (so far in the form of a religious group). The statement was written on July 12, and on August 17 a pastoral move was held.
Now pastafarian groups exist in Chelyabinsk, Petersburg, Tver, Vologda and some other cities.
Some observers believe that the "pasta church", conceived as a protest and libel, in Russia begins to take on the scale of a solid
religious organization. Pastafarian lawyers are seriously preparing documents for registering a new church, and the founders of the Russian branch of this teaching themselves are preparing for the necessary examinations, commissions and overcoming various obstacles. True, they do it all the same in accordance with the commandments of their monster: they say they will refuse - this is also an occasion to joke and neigh.
Orthodoxy is still cautious in its assessments of what is happening. Either the hierarchs do not take the Macaroni Monster Church seriously, or have not heard of it at all, or they do not draw parallels between their faith and pastafarianism. However, believers are indignant about the ideas of the Kansas founding father, and the religious organization "God's Will" even behaved quite aggressively during the pastoral move.
The spread of pastafarianism in the world: Ukraine
The neighbors-Ukrainians are no less active in this regard. Last year, October 11 (as it should be, on Holy Friday), the Ukrainian Pastafarian Church was registered, though not as a religious, but as a public organization. The next day, Macaroni Monster supporters made a pasty move, noting the successful registration. There were few people - about three dozen, but the procession turned out to be cheerful, almost conflict-free and colorful. Of course, there were unfriendly passers-by who threatened with afterlife, but on the whole everything went pretty nicely.
Long gone are the days when disbelief was punishable, often by death. Tolerance and tolerance, loyalty to the
spiritual world of man are loudly proclaimed throughout the world
. It is even more strange to meet aggressive statements addressed to the parody, mocking, absurd and frivolous Church of the Flying Pasta Monster. Even if pastafarians expect the posthumous beer volcano to be annoying, this is by no means a reason to declare them heretics and blasphemers. Let them bring their actions to an outright clowning - maybe these people are just tired of the intolerable seriousness of life and rest in this way. Do not suspect your neighbor of insulting your religious feelings in your way of praying. It is quite difficult to hurt a truly deeply and sincerely believing person, unless he is a fanatic.