False Faith? Trivia Quiz

Answer: Intelligent Design

While highly implausible, the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster emerged in 2005 and quickly became one of the Internet's most popular religious spawn. Created as a result of a letter sent to Kansas education boards, this 'religion' is based on the belief that since creationism doesn't specify a specific form or shape for a deity, a Flying Spaghetti Monster is just as plausible an answer as any other.

The letters sent to the school boards were distributed to urge schools against the teaching of intelligent design as an alternative to evolution, as taught in high school science classes.

Although "The Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster", with its satirical take on religion and religious texts, shows the joking side to the matter, there are still many people worldwide who claim to be devout Pastafarians.

In addition, this religion supports the notion that pirates are divine beings as studies demonstrate that fewer pirates on the world's oceans equate to increased global warming.

It's that crazy.

Answer: No

While hundreds of thousands of followers claim themselves to be members of the Jedi Order, their code is a loose set of rules in which one follows a philosophical path or destiny predetermined by 'The Force'. There is dispute as to a Light Side and Dark Side to the Force, but nonetheless the notion of a supernatural force controls all aspect of personal life.

While there is no Jedi Prayer or Jedi Bible, these believers find that meditation will set them on the right path with the Force. Things similar to the Force are represented in other religions as Holy Spirits or in Taoism as Dao, a path or way which one is predestined to take. Nonetheless, because the belief originated in a work of science fiction, many are hesitant to believe that midi-chlorians are really the spiritual life-forces that they need to believe in.

Answer: Festivus

Tossing aside the commercialism of those other observed December holidays, Festivus is notorious for its appearance on the sitcom, "Seinfeld", in which the Costanzas put up their aluminum pole, hold their airing of grievances, and demonstrate their feats of strength.

While the holiday promotes the togetherness of family expected of traditional holiday supporters, it does away with the religious associations of Christmas, Hannukah, Kwanzaa, and others entirely. Surprisingly, many religious observers celebrate their own respective holidays as well as Festivus (which is held on December 23rd typically) as an aside.

The common belief is anti-commercialism, the releasing of stress, and the coming together of family.

Answer: Christianity

While the name 'Western Branch of American Reform Presbylutheranism' only appears in a few different episodes of the animated comedy, the Simpson family frequently appears in their church led by Reverend Timothy Lovejoy. As depicted, most of Springfield follows the Protestant views of Christianity and they attend Sunday services. Nonetheless, because of the show's long-running stature, the concept of religion has been talked about on numerous occasions.

In one episode, "The Joy of Sect", the town is brainwashed by Movementarians, a cult of people who worship a man simply known as 'The Leader'. Lisa Simpson practices Buddhism while secondary character Moe Sizlack is a self-proclaimed 'Snake Handler'.

Answer: All of these

The notion of the Invisible Pink Unicorn is kind of clever in this sense (I mean, it's both pink AND invisible) as it's meant to satirize the belief in any God. Like the Flying Spaghetti Monster, the Invisible Pink Unicorn is a random manifestation used to symbolize arbitrary belief. Ironically, this creation made by atheists and skeptics has become a followed belief system in itself. Both of these irreligious figures also link to Bertrand Russell's notion of the Celestial Teapot, representing his arguments regarding burden of proof.

Answer: Henry Ford

The founder of the Ford Motor Company, Henry Ford paved the way for automobile industries in the Western world, becoming one of the most successful businessmen of his time through his practices and ideas about the manufacturing trade. Aldous Huxley's 1932 novel, "Brave New World", takes the idea of Fordism to an extreme. In a futuristic world where people are produced and conditioned for their destinies, the aim is to mass produce consumer items and provide senses of homogeneity and predictability of products and expectations. As such, most of the characters in the novel's 'World State' are genetically produced on assembly lines and taught at young ages what should and should not be felt. Certain biological changes are made to set them down the right path in life.

The point behind Fordism is the idea of a group of people who take their beliefs from one specific source (much like the deities of other religion). The twist in Huxley's book is that the industrialist theories of this auto manufacturer are the bread and butter of their beliefs. Dates in the 'AD' era are now 'AF' (for After Ford) and citizens of the World State exclaim 'By Ford!' as an exclamation as a result of their early teachings. Fordism also ties into Marxist political theory due to its materialist/consumerist nature.

Answer: Predestination

The idea of Predestination was examined more closely by John Calvin, who theorized that everyone would be forced to enact predetermined lives all ending up at the inevitable fate planned for us. This, of course, lends itself to the Catholic idea that God has foreseeable knowledge of the future and our actions cannot change the destinies which have been created for us (our raison d'etre, if you will). Many different religions take the idea of fate or destiny into account (including Islam, Hinduism, etc.), and even the idea of Predestination is quite fluid as many people believe that they are meant to do something with their lives, even if not as per the plans of a higher power.

In "The Dark Tower", Ka, as Roland the Gunslinger says, "is a wheel whose only purpose is to turn". Ka drives the ka-tet of the series and while there is no true foreseeable future for the main characters, they all share the belief that where they end up is where they are destined to be.

Answer: Paganism

Paganists revere nature as a place created by divinity itself, and while their beliefs don't necessarily fall in line with other systems, they still appeal to deities and even to Judeo-Christian beliefs. In "World of Warcraft", Shamans and Druids both show great compassion for the wilderness, often drawing strength from the natural world around them. Powers are also drawn from deities and spirits derived from nature itself.

This is similar to Pagan denominations like Wicca where followers support the idea that powers can be drawn from pantheistic Gods, whether good or evil.

Answer: Ichthys

Much like the Ichthys, often known as the 'Jesus Fish', the Resistor symbol characteristic of Robotologists is a symbol of faith. "Futurama" wasn't the first to jump on the Ichthys parody bandwagon though. People can find versions of this symbol for Darwinism (a fish with legs), Pastafarianism (a Flying Spaghetti Monster), and even Cthulhuism (from H. P. Lovecraft's mythos). Robotologists don't necessarily believe in a God, but they do have a firm belief in Robot Hell (found under New Jersey *gasp*).

The religion takes many cues from Catholicism with robots attending sermons weekly, abstaining from addictive substances, and praying. Other religions from the show include Robot Judaism and the Amalgamated Church (which combines nearly a dozen 21st-century religions).

Answer: Yes

Although the game never openly states the background of the cult of Happy-Happyism in the creepily-named Peaceful Rest Valley, many believe the members to support a deity regarded as 'Blue'. As a result, everything they see must be painted blue to comply with their leader's wishes.

Happy-Happyism is by-and-large a cult. Its members recreate images based on their belief system (that all must be blue) and they chant 'Blue, Blue, Blue...' constantly. In addition, their faith is relative to the appearance of an odd religious item which they consider to contain power. While theorists may consider such cults as 'new religious movements', others regard cults as dangerous in their actions. Happy-Happy followers, for example, cause harm to non-believers and outsiders. Similarly, the KKK have used their religious and social beliefs to cause harm while cults like The People's Temple have inherently caused harm to their own followers by exploiting religious beliefs.