Editing Invisible Pink Unicorn (section)

== Concepts ==
[[File:Invisible Pink Unicorn.png|thumb|Blank images have been humorously presented as depictions of the Invisible Pink Unicorn in order to highlight her invisibility.<ref name=klog2005/> (In this image, [[alpha compositing]] makes it transparent.)]]
It is common when discussing the Invisible Pink Unicorn to point out that because she is invisible, no one can [[Falsifiability|prove]] that she does not exist (or indeed that she is not pink). This is a parody of similar theistic claims about God: that God, as creator of the universe, is not subject to its laws and thus not physically detecting him tells us nothing about his existence or lack thereof. The Invisible Pink Unicorn is an illustration which attempts to demonstrate the absurdity of citing attributes and a lack of evidence as proof of a deity's existence. Her two defining attributes, invisibility and color (pink), are inconsistent and contradictory; this is part of the satire. The paradox of something being invisible yet having visible characteristics ([[color]]) is reflected in some [[East Asia]]n cultures, wherein an [[Red string of fate|invisible red string]] is said to connect people who have a shared or linked [[destiny]].

There are humorous mock debates amongst her "followers" concerning her other attributes, such as whether she is completely invisible or invisible to most, but visible only to those who have faith in her (bearing similarities to "[[The Emperor's New Clothes]]").<ref name=Ashman2007/> Some arguments are quite elaborate and tortuous, satirizing the disputatiousness and intricacy of the theological debates that occur in many religions.<ref name=Ashman2007/>

The Invisible Pink Unicorn is also used to de-deify religious texts. The goal is to have the reader experience the text without heavily loaded concepts that many readers will associate with omnipotence, or will read with an unquestioned faith. It is argued that when someone re-reads the same text with all direct references to God replaced with the Invisible Pink Unicorn, the reader may see the text in a new and more critical way: 
{{quote|In the beginning the Invisible Pink Unicorn created the heavens and the earth...and the Spirit of the Invisible Pink Unicorn was hovering over the waters. And the Invisible Pink Unicorn said, "Let there be light," and there was light. The Invisible Pink Unicorn saw that the light was good, and she separated the light from the darkness.|[[Book of Genesis|Genesis]] 1:1 (modified)<ref name=PolingPoolePoling2003/><ref name=Huberman2006/>}}