Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster loses bid for legal recognition as incorporated entity

Authored by abc.net.au and submitted by T-Spin_Triple
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The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster will remain in the realms of satire, after an attempt to have its Australian wing formally recognised was rejected by a South Australian legal authority on the grounds that the purported religion is nothing more than a "hoax".

Key points: An adherent of the offbeat movement launched a legal bid to secure it legal status as an incorporated entity

An adherent of the offbeat movement launched a legal bid to secure it legal status as an incorporated entity She said formal recognition would have allowed greater transparency

She said formal recognition would have allowed greater transparency SA's Civil and Administrative Tribunal rejected the bid, describing the church as a "sham" and a "parody"

Adelaide woman Tanya Watkins, a self-described "captain" of the church and adherent of its creed of "Pastafarianism", has made repeated attempts to secure the offbeat movement official status as an incorporated association.

After the latest attempt was knocked back by the Corporate Affairs Commission, Ms Watkins sought a review of that decision, and the matter was subsequently referred to the South Australian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (SACAT).

The tribunal heard evidence from the commission and from Ms Watkins, who contended that the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster was formed for a "religious, educational, charitable or benevolent purpose", thereby meeting the criteria of South Australia's Associations Incorporation Act.

Ms Watkins told the tribunal the church placed emphasis on helping others, and had engaged in acts of charity such as an event at Flinders University to "feed the hungry".

In a ruling handed down earlier this year, and recently published online, SACAT Senior Member Kathleen McEvoy rejected the arguments for incorporation.

"Ms Watkins explained to the tribunal that she was seeking incorporation for the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster Australia in order that the association would be recognised as a not for profit organisation under the Act, and be a legal entity in its own right," Ms McEvoy stated.

In the ruling, Ms McEvoy noted that while various "Pastafarian texts" are set out in traditional religious forms, they "contain some surprising articulations", such as references to the books of the Bible as the "Old Testicle" and "New Testicle".

"In particular there are numerous expressions which reference the texts of established religions, mimicking those texts in form and language, but in a clearly parodic form," Ms McEvoy wrote.

"I do not accept the applicant's explanation of the use of these expressions (and numerous other similar expressions, many expressed in racist and sexist terms, referencing texts or practices of other religions) as examples of humour, and for the purpose of generating curiosity."

Ms McEvoy said she was satisfied that the "Pastafarian texts present a hoax religion".

"It is my view that the Pastafarian texts can only be read as parody or satire, namely, an imitation of work made for comic effect. In my view, its purpose is to satirise or mock established religions, and it does so without discrimination," she wrote.

Self-described Pastafarian Tanya Watkins was seeking legal recognition for the church as an incorporated body.

Ms McEvoy upheld the Corporate Affairs Commission's decision that there was no evidence the church engaged in "systematic teaching and learning processes, nor of any structured, consistent, and broad-based charitable activities".

"I am satisfied that the proposed incorporated association merely presents as having a religious purpose, but is a sham religion or a parody of religion," she wrote.

"It was not formed for a religious purpose. On this basis, to conclude it is eligible for incorporation as a body with a religious purpose could clearly not be a preferable decision."

Ms Watkins told the ABC she found SACAT's decision "quite disappointing", and said incorporation would have brought considerable benefits.

"If you've got an association, then you should get it incorporated because then you've got government oversight, you can run a bank account and all those sorts of things so we could be transparent and above board," she said.

Ms Watkins rejected claims that the church was a "sham" and a "hoax", which she said came "from a misunderstanding".

She said the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster would continue to operate as an unincorporated body.

"You'll find that there is a core group of people who really believe in Pastafarianism and that it can change people's lives for the better," she said.

"Satire does have a serious purpose, because satire makes people think."

arcedup on June 19th, 2021 at 07:29 UTC »

So this is about the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster being incorporated and a legal entity in one particular state in Australia. That said, there is another test that can apply. Section 116 of the Australian Constitution states:

The Commonwealth shall not make any law for establishing any religion, or for imposing any religious observance, or for prohibiting the free exercise of any religion, and no religious test shall be required as a qualification for any office or public trust under the Commonwealth.

Edit: I checked the Wiki again and it says this:

Federal Governments have twice proposed the amendment of Section 116, principally to apply its provisions to laws made by the states. On each occasion—in 1944 and 1988—the proposal failed in a referendum.

Oops. I thought that if federal and state laws were inconsistent, federal law applies.

The wiki article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Section\_116\_of\_the\_Constitution\_of\_Australia

bigbangbilly on June 19th, 2021 at 05:25 UTC »

Could they do the same for Scientology

FlyingArdilla on June 19th, 2021 at 04:55 UTC »

Joke's on them, repression only strengthens religious fanaticism.