A Joke, Mockery, or Something More? The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster - an Invented Religion or a New Movement

Bibliographic Data

ID2659041
AuthorsSiarhei A Anoshka (0000-0002-1691-3264, Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski University in Warsaw, corresponding author)
Year2021
Volume81
Pages81-100
Publication date2021-04-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueFolklore Electronic Journal of Folklore (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1406-0957 • E-ISSN: 1406-0949
PublisherEstonian Literary Museum Scholarly Press (PUBLISHER • EE)
DOI10.7592/fejf2021.81.anoshka
OpenAlexW3134608817
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited3

This article attempts to analyse a contemporary phenomenon from the sphere of alternative religiosity in the form of joke religions. The main subject of the analysis is a new religious movement called the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster (CFSM), founded in the USA in 2005. By referring to the theory of carnival fun, joining the sacrum and profanum, and passing through the various doctrinal threads of this religious movement, the author attempts to answer the question of whether the CFSM can be considered a genuine religion or only a joke. The article begins with a short reflection on the possibility of joking about religion and faith, and the response to religious humour by people of faith, which may range from anger to disgust and sometimes even to aggression. Then, after a short history of this new (pseudo-)religious movement, a perspective is developed. It emerges that the whole structure of the so-called doctrine of this (quasi-)religion refers to other known religions and beliefs, including other new religious movements

Aesthetics · Art · Epistemology · Faith · Joke · Literature · Monster · Sociology · Humor Studies and Applications · Media, Religion, Digital Communication · Philosophy · Religious Studies and Spiritual Practices

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