Religious parodies and satires

Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 28. Chapters: Church of the SubGenius, Kibology, Jedi census phenomenon, Flying Spaghetti Monster, The Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, Reverend Billy and the Church of Life After Shopping, ApologetiX, Invisible Pink Unicorn, The Church Lady, Parody religion, Parodies of the ichthys symbol, Church of Euthanasia, Dudeism, LOLCat Bible Translation Project, Iglesia Maradoniana, Betty Bowers, Landover Baptist Church, Neo-American Church, Christwire. Excerpt: The Flying Spaghetti Monster (FSM) is the deity of the parody religion the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster or Pastafarianism. In 2005, Oregon State physics graduate Bobby Henderson wrote an open letter about a "Flying Spaghetti Monster" as a satirical protest against the decision by the Kansas State Board of Education to permit the teaching of intelligent design as an alternative to evolution in public schools. In the letter, Henderson parodied the concept of intelligent design by professing belief in a supernatural creator that closely resembles spaghetti and meatballs. Henderson further called for Flying Spaghetti Monsterism to be allotted equal time in science classrooms alongside intelligent design and evolution. After Henderson published the letter on his website, it rapidly became an internet phenomenon and a symbol for the case against teaching intelligent design (and religion in general) in public schools. Pastafarian (a portmanteau of pasta and Rastafarian) beliefs¿generally satires of creationism¿are presented both on Henderson's website (where he is described as "prophet"), and in The Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster (written by Henderson and published by Villiard Press in 2006). The central belief is that an invisible and undetectable Flying Spaghetti Monster created the universe. Pirates are revered as the original Pastafarians, and Pastafarians assert that a steady decline in the number of pirates over the years has resulted in a significant rise in global temperature. The FSM community currently congregates at Henderson's website to share ideas and crafts devoted to the Flying Spaghetti Monster. Due to its popularity and exposure, the Flying Spaghetti Monster is often used as a contemporary version of Russell's teapot. While generally praised by the media and endorsed by members of the scientific community, the Flying Spaghetti Monster has received criticism from the intelligent design community. Self-described Pastafarians have engaged i