Pastafarians lose posters to vandals
In the interest of promoting understanding and tolerance, the Pastafarians at USC will host an Ask an Atheist panel this Wednesday.
We have posted fliers in various buildings to build awareness of the event. You may have seen them around campus: amusing, innocuous and colorful posters depicting two kittens engaged in a lightsaber duel. These are hardly topical images but cute and eye-catching nonetheless. However, over the past week, it has been a constant and expensive struggle to keep these fliers in place. Every day we find that most of our posters have been ripped down and thrown away. This is especially disheartening given their intention of promoting inter-faith understanding and awareness.
But do we react? Do we vandalize churches and billboards? Do we attack these preachers? No. We do not do these things because we are reasonable American citizens who hold dear the same values and laws as any other average citizen. The only way in which we differ from most is that we don’t accept the existence of supernatural entities as fact. That is all. We are fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers, husbands, wives and children, and we deserve the same respect that we give to everyone else.
So when you see our fliers posted around campus, remember: we respect your right to believe whatever you wish.
We only want the same in return.
Tucker is membership director for USC Pastafarians