New Religious Movement
Pastafarianism / Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster
Export 1 entries:
Secular parody religion founded by Bobby Henderson (2005) in protest against Kansas Board of Education intelligent-design teaching. Among the lowest-control religious-derived traditions.
CLCI radar
Loading radar…
Minimal documented control
BITE breakdown
Behavior Control1/10
Information Control1/10
Thought Control1/10
Emotional Control1/10
Modifiers (+0)
0 — secular parody religion; very low-control.
Profile facts
Founded
2005
Members
Thousands of self-identifying
Active in
USA, Global
In context
Henderson's open letter to the Kansas Board of Education proposing the Flying Spaghetti Monster as an alternative 'creator' became a global parody movement. Multiple court cases over Pastafarian colander-headwear in driving-licence photos. Very low-control.
Recovery resources
- ICSA (International Cultic Studies Association) — General referral and cult-aware therapist directory.
- INFORM (Information Network on Religious Movements) — LSE-founded UK research-based information service covering new religious movements.
- Freedom of Mind Resource Center — Steven Hassan's organisation; BITE-model resources and family-side exit guidance.
See the full curated list at /resources.
This profile is in progress — history, deeper BITE evidence and survivor voices are still being added. Contributions welcome via GitHub.
Timeline
- 2005Henderson open letter to Kansas Board of Education
Evidence matrix
Structured sources cross-linked to the claims they document. Tiered per the source hierarchy. For free-text citations see the Sources section below.
Sources
- Bobby Henderson, 'The Gospel of the FSM' (2006) search ↗
- In the beginning there was the Flying Spaghetti Monster — https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/1498162/In-the-beginning-there-was-the-Flying-Spaghetti-Monster.html open ↗
- But Is There Intelligent Spaghetti Out There? — https://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/29/arts/design/29mons.html open ↗
- Verbatim: Noodle This, Kansas — https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/27/AR2005082700019.html open ↗
- Keeping ID out of science classes — http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/opinion/balance/stories/111505dnedicyberpage.b4d5bd9.html open ↗
- Spaghetti Monster" is noodling around with faith — https://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/2006-03-26-spaghetti-monster_x.htm open ↗
- The Flying Spaghetti Monster — http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A18740559#back3 open ↗
- A Tangled Tale of a Pasta-based Prophet — http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,371205,00.html open ↗
- Ha Ha, Only Serious: A Preliminary Study of Joke Religions — https://scholarsbank.uoregon.edu/xmlui/handle/1794/9336 open ↗
- Was the world created by god, evolution or pasta? — https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/3655035/Was-the-world-created-by-god-evolution-or-pasta.html open ↗
- Kansas Education Board First to Back "Intelligent Design — https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/08/AR2005110801211.html open ↗
- Kansas board boosts evolution education — https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna17132925 open ↗
- Holiday' Cards Ring Hollow for Some on Bushes' List — https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/06/AR2005120601900.html open ↗
- Passion of the Spaghetti Monster — https://www.wired.com/politics/law/news/2005/12/69905 open ↗
- Pasta monster gets academic attention — https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna21837499 open ↗
- Flying Spaghetti Monster Inspires Wonky Religious Debate — http://archive.wired.com/culture/education/news/2007/11/flying_spaghetti_monster open ↗
- Flying Spaghetti Monster Inspires Wonky Religious Debate — http://www.wired.com/culture/education/news/2007/11/flying_spaghetti_monster open ↗
- Atheists, 'Monster' fans say No to God, Yes to giving — http://content.usatoday.com/communities/religion/post/2009/07/68495858/1 open ↗
- Documentary follows Pastafarians as they strain for recognition — https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/sep/18/documentary-follows-pastafarians-strain-for-recognition open ↗
- New movies to stream this week: 'The Tobacconist,' 'I, Pastafari' and more — https://www.washingtonpost.com/goingoutguide/movies/new-movies-to-stream-this-week-the-tobacconist-i-pastafari-and-more/2020/07/08/b641dc7e-be25-11ea-80b9-40ece9a701dc_story.html open ↗
- Pastafarian pastor leads prayer at Alaska government meeting — https://www.apnews.com/06c11b92f92d427a8a38b5f1ab583080 open ↗
- The Church of the Non-Believers — https://www.wired.com/wired/archive/14.11/atheism.html open ↗
- 2008arXiv0807.3670M — https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2008arXiv0807.3670M open ↗
- Flying Spaghetti Monster Lands Outside Tennessee Courthouse — https://www.wired.com/2008/04/flying-spaghett/ open ↗
- Virginia Holiday Battle Includes Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster — https://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2011/12/virginia-holiday-battle-includes-church-of-the-flying-spaghetti-monster/ open ↗
- Pasta-loving 'church' tests Pa. holiday display — http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Pasta-loving-church-tests-Pa-holiday-display-4073601.php open ↗
- Humor failure in Russia: Crackdown on 'Pastafarians' shows Kremlin-church ties — https://www.nbcnews.com/news/other/humor-failure-russia-crackdown-pastafarians-shows-kremlin-church-ties-f8C10995408 open ↗
- Austrian driver allowed 'pastafarian' headgear photo — https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-14135523 open ↗
- Holy headgear! 'Pastafarian' wins legal fight — https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna43758303 open ↗
- Sorry, Dutch Pastafarians, but you still can't wear a colander on your government ID ... yet — https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2018/08/17/sorry-dutch-pastafarians-you-still-cant-wear-colander-your-government-id-yet/ open ↗
- Pastafarian" wins right to wear strainer on government ID — https://www.salon.com/2013/08/02/pastafarian_wins_right_to_wear_strainer_on_government_id/ open ↗
- Pastafarian' wins right to wear colander in driving licence photo — https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-35305899 open ↗
- Pastafarian minister Christopher Schaeffer is sworn into New York Town Council — https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/pastafarian-minister-christopher-schaeffer-is-sworn-into-new-york-town-council-9044607.html open ↗
- Ex-porn star OK'd to wear colander in DMV photo — https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/11/17/pastafarian-drivers-license/19200447/ open ↗
- Man wears strainer on his head in driver's license photo — https://edition.cnn.com/2017/06/01/us/pasta-strainer-license-photo-trnd/index.html open ↗
- Church of Flying Spaghetti Monster approved to perform marriages — https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/weddings/75107725/church-of-flying-spaghetti-monster-approved-to-perform-marriages open ↗
- This guy got a Victorian driver's licence with a pasta strainer on his head — https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/this-guy-got-a-victorian-drivers-licence-with-a-pasta-strainer-on-his-head-20161129-gszuu7.html open ↗
- Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District: Teaching Intelligent Design in Public Schools — http://www.law.harvard.edu/students/orgs/crcl/vol41_2/lee.pdf open ↗
- Pass notes No 2,637 The Flying Spaghetti Monster — https://www.theguardian.com/education/2005/sep/01/schoolsworldwide.world open ↗
- Intelligent Design' and Pastafarianism — https://www.theguardian.com/technology/blog/2005/aug/20/intelligentdes open ↗
- Science and Creationism: A View from the National Academy of Sciences — http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?isbn=0309064066&page=25 open ↗
- Science and Creationism (1999) — https://doi.org/10.17226%2F6024 open ↗
- Flying Spaghetti Monster — https://www.britannica.com/topic/Flying-Spaghetti-Monster open ↗
- New Zealand: Pastafarian marriage ceremonies approved — https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-news-from-elsewhere-35112484 open ↗
- Stuff.co NZ : Mariage et passoires en Nouvelle Zélande — http://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/weddings/75154107/Pastafarian-weddings-OK-in-NZ-Rasta-and-Jedi-weddings-not-so-much open ↗
- L’Église du « spaghetti volant » célèbre son premier mariage légal en Nouvelle-Zélande, Le Monde 16 04 2016 — https://www.lemonde.fr/religions/article/2016/04/16/l-eglise-du-spaghetti-volant-celebre-son-premier-mariage-legal-en-nouvelle-zelande_4903569_1653130.html open ↗
- de Wilde c. Pays-Bas (déc.) - 9476/19 — https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng?i=002-13503 open ↗
- Religionsparodie. Nudelsieb statt Kruzifix. — https://www.zeit.de/gesellschaft/2014-05/pastafari-religion-satire-anerkennung open ↗
- Big in Europe: The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster. — https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2016/11/big-in-europe/501131/ open ↗
- Spaghettimonster ist keine Kirche — http://www.zeit.de/gesellschaft/zeitgeschehen/2014-06/spaghettimonster-nudelsieb-oesterreich-religion-kirche open ↗
- Spaghettimonster-Gläubige: Neuseeland führt die Nudel-Ehe ein. — https://www.spiegel.de/panorama/gesellschaft/spaghettimonster-pastafaris-neuseeland-und-die-nudel-ehe-a-1068266.html open ↗
- Spaghettimonster-Kirche: Es gibt so viele Ehepaare, die wünschten, sie hätten nie geheiratet — https://www.spiegel.de/panorama/gesellschaft/neuseeland-fsm-eine-paepstin-traut-paare-nach-art-des-spaghettimonsters-a-1081007.html open ↗
- I, Pastafari review – inside the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster. — https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/may/21/i-pastafari-review open ↗
- Humor failure in Russia: Crackdown on 'Pastafarians' shows Kremlin-church ties — http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/humor-failure-russia-crackdown-pastafarians-shows-kremlin-church-ties-v20153441 open ↗
- Free speech outcry as images of the Flying Spaghetti Monster are banned from London South Bank University for offending religious people — https://www.independent.co.uk/student/news/free-speech-outcry-as-images-of-the-flying-spaghetti-monster-are-banned-from-london-south-bank-university-for-offending-religious-people-9119958.html open ↗
- Holy headgear! 'Pastafarian' wins legal fight — http://www.nbcnews.com/id/43758303/ns/world_news-weird_news/t/holy-headgear-pastafarian-tests-austrian-law-wins-fight/ open ↗
- Laughing Matters — Bulletin for the Study of Religion (2013) — https://dx.doi.org/10.1558%2Fbsor.v42i3.19 open ↗
- 10.11588/rel.2015.0.20327 — https://dx.doi.org/10.11588%2Frel.2015.0.20327 open ↗
- Joke Religions: Make-Believe in the Sandbox of the Gods — https://www.academia.edu/16235323/_Joke_Religions_Make-Believe_in_the_Sandbox_of_the_Gods_Ex_Nihilo_Krakow_2011 open ↗
- Evolutionary Controversy and a Side of Pasta: The Flying Spaghetti Monster and the Subversive Function of Religious Parody — http://college.wfu.edu/religion/wp-content/uploads/Johnston-FSM.pdf open ↗
We cite sources by name and outlet rather than fabricating links. Where a source includes its own URL, the open ↗ link opens it directly; otherwise search ↗runs a Google Scholar query for the cited title — useful for verifying academic sources. For news outlets, search the outlet's own archive.
Change history
Substantive edits logged per the score-updates policy.
- 2026-05-29Phase 1 Batch J: per-group recovery resources applied via programmatic palette (closest-fit by category + subCategory + score). Palette: Mainstream-comparator lighter.
- 2026-05-20Score band scheme migrated from 4 bands to 5 (Minimal 0–5 / Low 6–12 / Moderate 13–20 / High 21–30 / Extreme 31–40). No CLCI value changed; the new Minimal band was carved out of the bottom of the previous Low band.
Relevant hubs
Curated entry points on CLCI Hub for situations connected to this group.
You may also want to explore
Found something wrong on this profile?
We accept correction requests from anyone — current and former members, researchers, journalists, family members, and the listed organisation. Submissions are reviewed by an editor; we do not auto-publish.
Disclaimer. This profile is an educational summary based on publicly available reports. Many members of this group do not experience the patterns described. Individual congregations and chapters vary widely. If you or someone you know needs support, contact a licensed therapist or the International Cultic Studies Association.