In my two years as Chairperson of the Asia Working Group of the International Humanist and Ethical Youth Organization, I was happy to achieve most of what I set out to achieve. I brought the Asian Humanism Conference to Taipei for the first time the conference was hosted in East Asia. The group that helped organized the conference went on to further organize and become the Taiwan Humanistic Pastafarians. And last I heard, they were set to become members of the International Humanist and Ethical Union. That is until they weren’t.

You see at the most recent GA, THP was requested to create a subsidiary organization call the Taiwan Humanist Institute. Said institute was created, but then later rejected for not being a separate entity in a way that can only be described as arbitrary and capricious. It is disappointing to have the national group I helped found denied a place in the international community, but also to see the international group I gave so much of my own time to act in such a manner.

The Problem with Pasta

Yes, Pastafarianism has an image issue. It’s dinner theater atheism. But nothing about it is anti-humanistic. Pastafarianism offers a metaphor through which humanist can celebrate their beliefs. It gives them a platform for activism. Also, based on the organization’s bylaws, it gives them a means through which to promote humanism in a way consistent with IHEU’s own bylaws.

So why is it that the group is denied even a chance for membership? And why does IHEU find it proper to request a group with members, bylaws, and government recognition create an entirely new and separate organization before it can be considered for membership. Surely, IHEU understand the difficulty in creating a new national membership organization. Can not the issue of membership be put to the GA for a vote? Can not the Taiwan Humanistic Pastafarians simply be offered membership at the associate level? If not, can IHEU not offer a simple rejection of their application? It may not seem compassionate, but it’s surely better than presuming to tell a national membership organization how they should run and name their own organization.

An Arm with a Fist of Many Fingers

For IHEU it makes sense to have more and more member organizations, and it may make sense to avoid the association with Pastafarianism depending upon how one views it. However, worth considering is the benefit of membership for any individual group. Though a self-described umbrella organization, IHEU at time feels like the international wing of a few well off European organizations who have the good fortune of receiving funding through their nations’ own tax schemes. With a large purse to offer, its reasonable that these groups have an out sized effect on the IHEU board, which ultimately decides which votes are brought before the General Assembly and how IHEU is operated from day to day.

For those groups, it makes complete sense to increase the number of member organizations as well as your influence on the board. While you are essentially working to promote one nations global goals, you are doing so with the apparent backing of member groups from around the world. It’s a fist of many fingers, but where that fist swings is ultimately decided by those controlling the arm. For this reason, it makes less sense for any individual organization to join IHEU. At the very least the benefits are unclear. Which when matched with the opacity of the admission process, there is ripe ground for concern.

It is my true hope that IHEU and Taiwan Humanistic Pastafarians can continue to cooperate, be it as umbrella org and member org, or merely as fellow travelers. However, cooperation must be based on mutual respect and clear communication. If IHEU does not treat possible new members in a clear and fair manner, then they cannot long expect to have new member organizations.