Flying Spaghetti Monster statue at Tennessee courthouse

If you're a fan of the Flying Spaghetti Monster and the gospel of Pastafarianism, then you have to love what's going on in Crossville, Tenn.

Members of the Crossville, Tennessee chapter of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster sought and received approval to install a statue of the Flying Spaghetti Monster outside the city's courthouse.

(Credit: Ariel Safdie)

There, as I discovered today on Laughing Squid, some members of the local chapter of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster have gotten city approval to erect a statue of "His Noodly Appendage" outside the local courthouse.

I talked briefly by phone Monday with Ariel Safdie, one of the local chapter members involved with building and installing the statue, and she said that for her and her fellow members, the issue involved in building the statue and seeking and acquiring approval to install it wasn't about religion, but about freedom of speech.

That seems perfectly appropriate to me, since the whole point of the Flying Spaghetti Monster is to make the point--via free speech--that if communities are going to give credence to one theory of the origins of life in their schools, then they also have to give credence to others.

Safdie and others applied for permission to install their statue, and it was granted by the city of Crossville.

This is the official form granting approval to install the statue.

(Credit: Ariel Safdie)

This is the text of the statement they made at the installation ceremony, according to the blog of the Crossville chapter of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster:

"We are lucky enough to live in a country that allows us, its citizens, the freedom of speech. I have chosen to put up a statue of the Flying Spaghetti Monster to represent the discourse between people of all different beliefs. The many faiths, ethnicities and backgrounds of Cumberland County's residents make our community a stronger richer place. I respect and am proud that on the people's lawn, the county courthouse, all of these diverse beliefs can come together in a positive dialogue. Here, we are all able to share the issues close to our hearts whether it is through a memorial to the soldiers killed fighting for our country, the Statue of Liberty honoring our nations welcoming promise to all, a group's fight to stop homelessness, or powerful symbols of faith. I greatly treasure this open forum between everyone in the community."

[sbwinn]

I always thought

I always thought the flying spaghetti monster was more about
ridiculing religion than free speech.

[-fjtorres-]

Try ridiculing religion in other countries...

...and see how free speech really is in those lands. And I'm not just talking Islamic countries.
(Try the U.K. for one...)

Plenty of western countries are afraid of offensive speech and do not trust their citizens to pull a Voltaire. It is when dealing with distateful, even hateful speech that the maturity of a society can be truly measured. Notice that for all the (rightful) opprobium heaped on Obama and his spiritual advisor, neither has been dragged before a court over the hatemongering as would have happened in many european countries.

Its all about trusting the wisdom and maturity of the audience. Children need protection but adults don't. Of course, some societies have a big problem telling the two apart...

Peace

[freemarket--2008]

It's a counter to ID

If the creator of the universe is some undefined entity, it can be anything you could imagine, including the FSM--therefore it is an untestable and meaningless theory.

[Renegade Knight]

It is.

FSM is about ridiculing religion and creation. But this wasnt' about free speech.
Art isn't "Free Speach". There are plenty of other piece of art that they would never let anywhere near that lawn.

[menotbug]

Should'a made it bigger!

I have always believed that He was much bigger.
He should loom over the courthouse menacingly.

[infopowerbroker]

questionable usage...

"have gotten city approval to erect a statue of "His Noodly Appendage" outside the local courthouse."

To the best of my knowledge,"His Noodly Appendage" is most often used in Pastafarianism to denote special revelation of some sort, when the Spaghedeity interacts and uses his divine will to intervene with a certain action, such as "He was touched by His Noodly Appendage". It could be compared to "The Hand of God", or similar terms in other religions. To properly refer to the Flying Spaghetti Monster, there are numerous terms that are appropriate, such as Spaghedeity, The Flying Spaghetti Monster, or even casually referred to as "His Noodliness". Any of those terms would give the desired meaning to the quote while still referring to the subject of the statue.