World's first Pastafarian wedding takes place in New Zealand
Pastafarianism is a great non-violent method of highlighting the privileged position of organised religions worldwide. When a nation decides that church and state should be separate, and no religion is promoted over any other, you usually end up with a handful of religions with privileges (e.g., tax exemption, access to civilian private records, etc.) that no other organisation can attain. When another religion gains popularity, they too claim these privileges (which is only just, as there is no state sanctioned religion).<p>This creates a neat conundrum for the lawmaker; what <i>is</i> a religion? When is an organisation a church? Can you legally define what a religion is?<p>Why is the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster <i>obviously</i> satire, and Catholicism a <i>proper</i> religion? What about Scientology? Is it about the number of adherents? Something tangible? A short-list of pre-approved religions? Pre-approved by whom? On what legal basis?<p>If you follow this line of reasoning to the extreme, you must conclude that a satirical organised religion is just as much a <i>real</i> religion as any other. Which is fine, but it implies that have to provide the same (legacy) privileges to all, or accept not being a secular state (and rewrite your constitution as a consequence).<p>Pastafarianism is all about proving this inherent silliness afforded to established religions.