Pseudo Religions?

  As any regular reader of this blog knows, I'm no fan of religion. I had the great fortune of being raised by parents that weren't very religious and, to the best of my knowledge, never went to church during my lifetime. Thus I was allowed to grow up free of religious indoctrination. As a result of this, I am an atheist. That being said you'll probably find it surprising that I'm an ordained minister of the Universal Life Church. Here's the story behind my ordination. Back in early 1998, I sent in my $30.00 and became a SubGenius minister. The Church of the SubGenius is a parody church created by Rev. Ivan Stang and Overman Philo U. Drummond. In an FAQ file on the site, they said that the SubGenius church wasn't recognized by the government and as a result, ministers ordained by the church couldn't legally perform such priestly duties as weddings. But the ULC believes that no government should stand in the way of a person's religious beliefs. Because of this, they will ordain anyone online, for free, no matter what religious beliefs an individual might have. I've been an ordained ULC minister since Feb. 1st, 1998.

  Some time later, I found out about the Jedi Church. Based on the Star Wars universe, this religion bases its beliefs on the Force and the code of the Jedi. As I recall, it started either in New Zealand or Australia. This church has been seeking official government recognition in several countries. Joining the church is free, but you can order a Certificate of Ordainment from them. I've been an ordained Jedi minister for a few years now.

  And last, but not least, we have Pastafarianism a.k.a. The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster. This church was formed in response to the Kansas school board trying to teach creationism in their public schools. Sometime last year, the church began selling ordination certificates and wallets cards on their site. I joined this past December.

  It should also be noted that, according to the Principia Discordia, everyone on Earth is a Discordian Pope. You can get your free Pope card here.

  So why would a dyed in the wool atheist get ordained in three different religions? I mainly did it as a form of protest against the major religions of the world. As far as I'm concerned, these religions are just as valid as they are. Just because Christianity, Islam and Judaism have very large followings doesn't make them any truer than SubGenius, Jediism, Pastafarianism or Discordian beliefs.