Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster: First wedding held in New Zealand; U.S. judge denies inmate's request to practice parody religion

The ministeroni of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster had officiated her first wedding on Saturday. The parody church had since received numerous requests from couples to tie the "noodle knot."

According to The Independent, Pastafarians Toby Ricketts and Marianna Fenn were officially wed in the town of Akaroa in the New Zealand South Island. The couple, dressed as pirates, were aboard a charter boat made to look like a pirate ship, and their union -- along with their exchange of pasta rings -- was witnessed by the congregation who were dressed in a similar fashion. Their wedding was conducted by the ordained ministeroni, Karen Martyn.

"I've had people from Russia, from Germany, from Denmark, from all over contacting me and wanting me to marry them in the church because of our non-discriminatory philosophy," Martyn said, and this includes same-sex unions. "We will marry any consenting legal adults who meet the legal requirement."

The church began in the United States as a protest against organized religion infiltrating public schools. New Zealand has granted it legitimacy and is now officially recognized in the country.

But while Pastafarianism is legally recognized in Kiwi country as well as in the Netherlands and Poland, a United States federal judge denied the petition of an inmate at the Nebraska State Penitentiary to let him practice the religion.

Stephen Cavanaugh's complaint says that he wanted "a court order mandating that FSMism receive the same rights and privileges afforded to every other religion in the Department of Corrections," which, according to Christian Today, includes having weekly worship services, communion, and allowing him wear religious clothing. He was also demanding $5 million from the defendants for causing him pain and suffering, and other punitive damages. 

"The Court finds that FSMism is not a 'religion' within the meaning of the relevant federal statutes and constitutional jurisprudence," District Judge John Gerrard said in the court ruling, as quoted by Arstechnica. "It is, rather, a parody, intended to advance an argument about science, the evolution of life, and the place of religion in public education."

The judge said that the teachings of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster is clearly a work of satire, which is meant to make a point while providing entertainment, and he said that an inmate could very well read a work of fiction and declare that as his holy book.

"It is not always an easy line to draw," Gerrard said. "But there must be a line beyond which a practice is not 'religious' simply because a plaintiff labels it as such. The Court concludes that FSMism is on the far side of that line."