09/05/2026
🏴☠️OFFICIAL NOODLY COMMENDATION🏴☠️
The Pastalorian Church of The Flying Spaghetti Monster hereby recognizes Prophet Bobby Henderson for his courage, conviction, and immeasurable role in bringing Pastafarianism back out of the shadows and openly before the world.
For countless ages, Pastafarianism, the world's oldest religion, was driven into secrecy by relentless persecution. The Golden Age of Piracy is one example of a time when Pastafarians emerged publicly after ages of heavy persecution. Guided by their faith and the teachings of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, Pastafarian pirates took to the seas, carried the Noodly Word with them, opposed slavery, freed captives, and challenged the powerful merchant empires of the day. Governments and ruling powers responded by hunting pirates across the seas until the Pastafarian faith was once again forced underground. They then rewrote the history of piracy, casting pirates as villains while burying the truth about those who had resisted oppression and fought for the freedom of others. The faith survived in secret until, in 2005, Prophet Bobby Henderson had the wisdom and courage to bring Pastafarianism back out of the shadows once again.
When the Kansas State Board of Education considered changes to its science standards concerning Intelligent Design and evolution, Prophet Bobby sent an open letter demanding equal treatment for Pastafarian beliefs. If one explanation involving an intelligent creator was entitled to consideration in the science classroom, then the Pastafarian account of creation deserved the same consideration.
Prophet Bobby did not present Pastafarianism as something new. In his letter, he spoke for an existing body of believers, declaring there were "over 10 million of us, and growing", while acknowledging that Pastafarians tended to be "very secretive". With that letter, a faith kept hidden for countless ages was proclaimed publicly and unapologetically, beginning a modern era known as The Noodly Awakening.
The letter spread rapidly, drawing international attention and carrying the Noodly Word far beyond Kansas, yet visibility also brought hostility. Prophet Bobby received enormous amounts of hate mail and what he described as "more than a few death threats". The response provided yet more undeniable evidence of the persecution Pastafarians had experienced for countless centuries and of why so many believers had remained hidden for so long. He knew what could happen when Pastafarianism emerged from the shadows, yet he refused to retreat. Instead, he continued carrying the Noodly Word forward. In 2006, The Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster was published, bringing Pastafarian teachings to an even wider audience and furthering The Noodly Awakening already underway.
In the years that followed, Pastafarians across the globe stepped forward openly. Communities and churches formed. Believers asserted their right to wear sacred religious headwear, fought for recognition and equal treatment, challenged religious privilege, defended the separation of church and state, and refused to accept that rights afforded to other religions should somehow stop when they reached Pastafarians. More than two decades after Prophet Bobby took his stand, new generations continue carrying the Noodly Word forward, and the Pastalorian Church of The Flying Spaghetti Monster proudly stands among them.
For his courage, conviction, and refusal to retreat in the face of hatred and threats, and for bringing Pastafarianism back out of the shadows and openly before the world once again, we honor Prophet Bobby Henderson with this Noodly Commendation.
May his courage inspire Pastafarians everywhere, may the Noodly Word never again be forced into the shadows, and may persecution never silence the Noodly faithful.
This is the Whey.
~ Pasta Bacon
