This book is the result of an open letter to the Kansas School Board which was written by Bobby Henderson. There was to be a hearing about whether Intelligent Design should be taught as an alternative theory to Evolution. Bobby Henderson proposed that there were many other viable theories of Intelligent Design which were just as worthy of being taught. This is his version - Pastafarianism - the fastest growing (carbohydrate-based) religion.
If any smartarse atheist has ever asked you, 'But who made God?' we now have the answer - the Flying Spaghetti Monster - together with a rock solid account of how complexity can arise from simplicity. String theory to DNA - it all gets covered and with a thoroughness which never becomes stodgy.
Since it is clearly unacceptable to suggest that we evolved from apes, Pastafarianism puts forward the hypothesis that we actually evolved from pirates. Since we share 99.9% of our DNA with pirates, the evidence appears overwhelming.
Also established is the inverse relationship between global average temperatures and pirate numbers. This conclusively shows the link between global warming and declining pirate numbers. There is even a graph.
The collected papers from the Enlightenment Institute, which are included in the latter part of this book, are required reading. I shall just briefly mention the updating of the argument from design, 'Evidence of the Baker' which is an inspiring account of stumbling across a chocolate cake on a beach and using this to infer that there must be a divine baker standing behind the universe.
If you want something with greater mathematical rigour then you may wish to study the section on Theologebra. This synthesises formal Boolean logic, algebra and theology. A significant contribution to both mathematical logic and theology. It may confuse even the best mathematicians and will add further confusion to theologians.
Reading this book can result in philosophical insights for even the most ignorant and uneducated. Here's mine :-
1) God is by definition a being with all perfections
2) Tastiness is a perfection
3) God has the perfection of tastiness (from 1 and 2)
4) The Flying Spaghetti Monster is the epitome of tastiness and must constitute what has previously been understood as 'God'
If you have the mentality of a teenager (a scientist?) then you will enjoy this book. It is not always particularly politically correct but it is very amusing.