or Saturnalia or Mithraismas or Festival of Sol Invictus or whatever dodgy god-bothering suits your fancy…

The (one true) Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster greets you whatever your deluded beliefs and however wacky they are (may His Noodley Appendage be upon you).

Thank you to all our loyal – and, yes, our accidental – visitors over the last year. It has been our distinct pleasure (with perhaps two exceptions, in which case it was a derisive hoot) to have you grace our humble site, to have you drape yourself over the Ottoman and the Chesterfield so languidly, to have you feel so “right at home” which assuredly you were.

Sir Roger is taking a few days off to gird himself for the New Year after the enervating, dispiriting travesty that was Crimenhagen.

As a result, Sir Roger is under his doctors’ orders to spend up to five days’ restorative time in the recliner, from Boxing Day, worshipping vicariously in the hallowed Temple of the Test.

[Australians'] religion is based on nature and is somewhat pantheistic with many gods, new and ancient, such as Punter and Lily, and fallen gods like Joey. Their temples are open to the sky and to the seasons which dictate the forms of their rituals. During the summer they worship a small, boring insect called the Cricket. For the longer rites, which may last many days unless Engllish worshippers are present, the priesthood wear white and the rituals revolve around a red lozenge and an ancient structure called Stumphenge [image here]. For the shorter evening services a white lozenge is preferred and the priests are attired in garb of vibrant hues.

So in the spirit of ChriFSMas we offer you these two TED talks, by Dan Gilbert and Martin Seligman to view over the coming weeks: to keep your brain active; your mind happy; your life worthwhile, and you loving us over the break:

In the words of the famous beach-bum who invented surfing in Australia, Hermann Bondi:

The fact that stares one in the face is that people of the greatest sincerity and of all levels of intelligence differ and have always differed in their religious beliefs. Since at most one faith can be true, it follows that human beings are extremely liable to believe firmly and honestly in something untrue in the field of revealed religion. One would have expected this obvious fact to lead to some humility, to some thought that however deep one’s faith, one may conceivably be mistaken. Nothing is further from the believer, any believer, than this elementary humility. All in his power…must have his faith rammed down their throats. In many cases children are indeed indoctrinated with the disgraceful thought that they belong to the one group with superior knowledge who alone have a private wire to the office of the Almighty, all others being less fortunate than they themselves.”

Now in the name of the Dog the Farter, rod the Bum and hog the Sundry Roast, be all horror and gory, world without them! And may Pasta be always upon thy plate.

RAmen!

UPDATE: Sir Roger wishes to acknowledge the receipt of his first Chrifsmas gift. It came to him in another Dimension where Sir Roger leads a parallel life as a do-gooder (or yes, perhaps as a good-doer). He received a Chrifsmas Eve phone-call from a person whose life he had touched in a positive way about two years ago, in the course of his work, and who rang to say hullo and to send Sir Roger his good wishes at this time. It is a big thing, you know, to realise that you actually do beneficially impact other lives and make a difference to people. Is there any greater or more worthwhile thing? Sir Roger, for the first time in a long time – and almost certainly in his readers’ experience – feels humbled.

[tags]religion, christmas, TED, TED talks, Dan Gilbert, Martin Seligman, Hermann Bondi, happiness, psychology, life, pleasure, science, positive psychology, Spaghetti Monster, pastafarian, noodle, pirate, Saturnalia, Mithraismas, Sol Invictus, values, religious values, life values, cultural values, Australian values, Australian religious values, cricket, boxing day, boxing day test[/tags]