We promote secularism in the sense that a government should neither promote nor oppose religion or non-religion. We do not however promote a world free of religion, nor do we promote a world full of religion. As was once said by the great thinkers, Bill and Ted, “be excellent to each other.” That is all that matters.

The First Church of Penguinism’s logo is based on Arp 142, which is a pair of galaxies, NGC 2936 and NGC 2937. NGC 2936 is sometimes known as the penguin galaxy. The galaxy is a spiral galaxy, like our own, but it is distorted by NGC 2937 nearby.

Interestingly, the combination of NGC 2936 and NGC 2937 seem a lot like a penguin and an egg, but we take it to symbolize Sq’wak and the eternal dishwasher.

No. There is often some confusion about taxation of religious organizations. An organization is tax exempt, if it qualifies as a 501(c)(3) charity, regardless of its religiosity. Therefore a religious institution is not necessarily tax exempt. That being said, because it isn’t necessary to actually be a religious organization, it is possible that in the future, we will apply for tax exempt status, if we decide to fully dedicate resources to charitable causes.

Alternatively, we may seek Public Benefit Corp status, which is a new type of corporation where the primary focus is on a mission for the benefit of the public, rather than profit or wealth maximization of the shareholders. Our mission is along the lines of “the promotion of open science, secularism, and a peaceful relationship between science and religion.”

The First Church of Penguinism is the very first institution promoting Penguinism. While Penguinism is largely a work of humor, The First Church of Penguinism has as its goal the promotion of science and secularism, a peaceful relationship between secular and religious groups, cooperation between science and religion, and sustainability. We also oppose fundamentalism and bigotry, in all of its forms, whether religious or non-religious.