Ceiling Cat, the FSM and Jedi

In my post yesterday on defining religion (for an upcoming class I'm teaching at Valdosta State University on Religion and Culture) there is the problem of parody religions. For example, there is a picture above of Ceiling Cat's Ten Commandments. These are an outgrowth of the immensely popular lolcats website which features life from a cat's perspective. Ceiling Cat is the divinity. Any definition of "religion" that tries to use scripture as a source of defining what is a religion, may have to contend with the impressive scope of the LOLcat Bible translation project nearing a complete version of the Christian Bible from a Ceiling Cat perspective. Here is the 23rd Psalm:

Ceiling Cat iz mai sheprd
(which is funni if u knowz teh joek about herdin catz LOL.)
He givz me evrithin I need.
2 He letz me sleeps in teh sunni spot
an haz liek nice waterz r ovar thar.
3 He makez mai soul happi
an maeks sure I go teh riet wai for him.
Liek thru teh cat flap insted of out teh opin windo LOL.
4 I iz in teh valli of dogz, fearin no pooch,
bcz Ceiling Cat iz besied me rubbin' mah ears,
an it maek me so kumfy.
5 He letz me sit at teh taebl
evn when peepl who duzint liek me iz watchn.
He givz me a flea baff an so much gooshy fud
it runz out of mai bowl LOL.
6 Niec things an luck wil chase me evrydai
an I wil liv in teh Ceiling Cats houz forevr.

The site also offers Proofs of Ceiling Cat which is a parody of proofs of the existence of God. See the problem.

Then there is the Flying Spaghetti Monster (pictured at the bottom of this post) which was created as a satirical protest against the Kansas State Board of Education requirement to teach intelligent design alongside biological evolution. The FSM is the deity of Pastfarianism.

Then there is the successful attempt in Britain to get as many people to answer Jedi Knight to the census question of religion. A half a million people in Britan and elsewhere have selected Jedi as their religion. A joke? To start with, but Jedi Sanctuary, an online temple dedicated to Jediism, has been accepted in to the Universal life Church, and there are at least two registered Jedi churches in the US and the Britain. Maybe a joke gone too far or someone enjoying getting lost in fiction.

Ceiling Cat, Pastfarianism and Jedi may not be bona fide religions, but they are at least cultural reactions to religion which could be a helpful part of a discussion of Religion and Culture if they get one to better define one's own ideas of what religion means. Defining religion may not open up a can of worms but it sure can (this is gonna hurt) open a can of Spaghetti Os.

peace,
Frank+
The Rev. Frank Logue, Pastor