American Academy of Religon to discuss FSM

sbillard writes: The American Academy of Religion is set to discuss the Flying Spaghetti Monster (FSM) at their annual meeting this weekend in San Diego. The FSM, now a college campus celebrity and internet sensation was first brought to us in a letter to the Kentucky school board after they mandated consideration for Intelligent Design in Science class curriculum. While largely acknowledged as a joke, the academy will discuss some of the legitimate aspects of FSM as a religion, and as an adequate criticism of religion. What is religion? When does a clan or cult officially cross the line and become a religion? At what point does religious belief stop being beneficial to an individual or to a society and start to cause more problems than it solves?
Have you been touched by his noodly appendage?