The United States District Court for the District of Nebraska ruled on Wednesday that worshipping spaghetti is not a religion.
The ruling was issued after a federal prisoner claimed that as a "Pastafarian," a member of a sect that worships a god known as the Flying Spaghetti Monster, his religious requests were not being respected by officials.
The pasta-shaped deity is a satiric creation rather than a genuine object of worship, the ruling said.
"[The Flying Spaghetti Monster"] is a parody, intended to advance an argument about science, the evolution of life,and the place of religion in public education," the court ruled. "Those are important issues, and [the movement surrounding the monster] contains a serious argument— but that does not mean that the trappings of the satire used to make that argument are entitled to protection as a ‘religion.’"
The Flying Spaghetti Monster was conceived in 2005 in response to a decision made to include the teaching of intelligent design in Kansan public schools.
Ordination into the clergy of the Pastafarian church may be purchased for $25 from a website.