Drinking With Bloggers + Pastafarianism and Our Open-Minded President

Got to see the faces behind the sites at last night's APWBWGTTD (Atlanta People With Blogs Who Get Together To Drink). I didn't know a soul, so when I first arrived at the Brewhouse, I found myself sitting with the wrong group of computer people. Glad it wasn't the bloggers, because those first folks had an unfriendly vibe all around. One of their members accidently sat with the bloggers first, and he showed me where they were sitting. Younger, louder, and drinking more, the bloggers were much more promising.

Talked to;

Scott (Messages from the Ether) about black velvet paintings and art criticism...
Maigh who would make a kick-ass TV detective, grilled me about what I write on my site...
Lori (Mingaling) small talk, Vegas...
Lady Crumpet, small talk... and,
Suzi (Fat Asian Baby) about art stuff and her good taste in music.

A good night in all, but I missed Jon Stewart (The Daily Show), who is doing 4 part special on "Evolution, Schmevolution." Some of the opponants of evolution are pushing science-lite "Intelligent Design" and trying to get it included in science curriculums in Kansas. It's mainly a push from Christians, as I have yet to hear of a Buddist, Animist or Pagan I.D. proponant. The nice thing about intelligent design is that it does not attribute a specific designer, which allows for anyone to cite their architect of choice for complex life. And that's where the Flying Spaghetti Monster comes to attention. Pastafarians have come to the forefront in promoting the F.S.M. as the creator of all that is around.

"Let us remember that there are multiple theories of Intelligent Design. I and many others around the world are of the strong belief that the universe was created by a Flying Spaghetti Monster. It was He who created all that we see and all that we feel. We feel strongly that the overwhelming scientific evidence pointing towards evolutionary processes is nothing but a coincidence, put in place by Him...

...I’m sure you now realize how important it is that your students are taught this alternate theory. It is absolutely imperative that they realize that observable evidence is at the discretion of a Flying Spaghetti Monster. Furthermore, it is disrespectful to teach our beliefs without wearing His chosen outfit, which of course is full pirate regalia. I cannot stress the importance of this enough, and unfortunately cannot describe in detail why this must be done as I fear this letter is already becoming too long. The concise explanation is that He becomes angry if we don’t. "

There are many that have written the website of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster with email condeming them for blasphemy and offering their forgivness as their faith askes of them. I love that the writter of this email...

"You already have faith if you believe anything you have never seen is true...I have heard and I accept you into my heart Jesus.

Now you will see for yourself the power of Christ!"

... is Brian Hull (BrianHull@boydgaming.com) of Vegas-based casino and gambling empire Boyd Gaming Corporation. One would think that Christianity runs counter to gambling. But the Skeptic's Annotated Bible provides pro-gambling/anti-gambling bible scriptures and author of "The Book of Virtues," by William J. Bennett sure had some strong ideas on what to do with his publishing profits.

Anyways, I'm sure George Bush would not mind including Flying Spaghetti Monster in the evolution studies as he recently remarked, "I think that part of education is to expose people to different schools of thought, and I'm not suggesting -- you're asking me whether or not people ought to be exposed to different ideas, and the answer is yes."