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Revision as of 20:34, 18 September 2004
The Invisible Pink Unicorn (IPU), described as a goddess in the form of a unicorn who is both invisible and pink, is a satire aimed at certain religious attitudes and beliefs. The exact origin of the IPU mythos is unknown, but the earliest known references to this parody were made between 1990 and 1992 on the Usenet discussion group alt.atheism, as an alternative to other parody deities like Church of the SubGenius J. R. "Bob" Dobbs or Eris of the Discordianism. Quoting from the alt.atheism FAQ:
- The IPU is the Invisible Pink Unicorn (blessed be her holy hooves).
- Like most Goddesses, she's invisible and highly unlikely to exist. However, there is much argument as to her exact colour, her shape and size, and other properties of her nonexistence. She burns with anger against theists and allegedly grinds them beneath her holy hooves.
- The point of this silliness is to prod the theist into remembering that their preaching is likely to be viewed by atheists as having all the credibility and seriousness of their preaching about the IPU and various catgods.
Sayings about faith in the Invisible Pink Unicorn include that, like other religions, it is founded in logic and faith. Logic, that is, "she must be invisible, since we cannot see her". Faith, that is, "we know in our hearts that the Invisible Pink Unicorn exists". This is a parody of the theological reasoning of other religions.
The idea behind the parody is that because the Unicorn is invisible, no one can prove it does not exist. But if there is no way to detect or see it, how do we know it is pink or has a single horn?
The Invisible Pink Unicorn is also a parody of the contradictory aspects of religion -- by common sense, nothing can be both pink and invisible. Similarly, many people argue that omnipotence and omnibenevolence -- traits often attributed to deities -- are contradictory. They also point to apparent contradictions in the Bible or the Koran, or the conceptual difficulties of the Trinity.
The name of the Invisible Pink Unicorn in jocular discourse is usually followed in brackets by a sentence similar to the one Muslims use when mentioning the prophet Muhammad. Blessed Be Her Holy Hooves, Peace Be Unto Her, or May Her Hooves Never Be Shod are often used which in turn are often shortened to bbhhh, pbuh, or mhhnbs respectively.