FSM In Our Schools

One person who is upset about the pressure to include Intelligent Design in the schools is Phil Plait, the brains behind the wonderful Bad Astronomy Web site. He also picked up President Bush's call to teach magic alongside science (and yet call it science) in our nation's schools. And so I'm indebted to him for pointing out another, equally credible "school of thought" that deserves to be taught in the schools just as much as ID does.

It's called Flying Spaghetti Monsterism, or FSM. That link will take you to a letter to the Kansas School Board from Bobby Henderson, concerned citizen, exhorting them to apply the same critical thinking skills they've already focused on the ID issue and include FSM in any discussion of the possible origins of life on earth. The letter includes such scientific standbys as charts, numbers, graphics, etc., to prove that a Flying Spaghetti Monster created the universe. It also shows the frightening effects of the decline in pirates.

This scientifically sound theory does have detractors, of course. One letter to the site not only expresses the hope that Henderson's genitals are eaten by three-legged mice with squirrel tails, but also puts forth the idea that ninjas are cooler than pirates.

Two members of the school board did write back, assuring Henderson that they are compiling many alternative theories and think that the members in the majority of the board might just have the intellectual capacity to want to include the study of FSM in the schools.

So wear your pirate regalia and push for the inclusion of FSM! I'm also reminded of another school of thought regarding mankind's origins that was expressed in the movie, "A Mighty Wind," by the Bohners:

Laurie Bohner: Terry and I worship an unconventional deity. The power of another dimension. Now you are not going to read about this dimension in a book or a magazine because it exists nowhere -- but in my own mind. Through our ceremonies and rituals we have witnessed the awesome and vibratory power -- of color.

Terry Bohner: This is not an occult science. This is not one of those crazy systems of divination and astrology. That stuff's hooey, and you've got to have a screw loose to go in for that sort of thing. Our beliefs are fairly commonplace and simple to understand. Humankind is simply materialized color operating on the 49th vibration. You would make that conclusion walking down the street or going to the store.

Sounds like another strong case...