Pasta is a serious subject. It’s so serious, in fact, that there is a secular religious order called “Pastafarian” which has existed in secrecy for hundreds of years and has “millions, if not thousands, of devout worshipers.”
Pastafarians attend the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, which is “legit, and backed by hard science” according to the religion’s official website. (We don’t doubt that Aziz Ansari has been a member of the FSM church for years.)
Now, a woman who belongs to the spaghetti-worshipping congregation is being permitted to wear a colander on her head in her Massachusetts driver’s license photo. She feels that it is “an expression of her Pastafarian identity,” according to AHA News.
(Photo: American Humanist Association)
After she was initially told she could not wear a strainer on her head for the photo, the legal center at the American Humanist Association helped Miller get permission from the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles (RMV) to wear it. According to the association’s website:
“Miller said, ‘As a member of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, I feel delighted that my Pastafarianism has been respected by the Massachusetts RMV. While I don’t think the government can involve itself in matters of religion, I do hope this decision encourages my fellow Pastafarian Atheists to come out and express themselves as I have.'”
The legal director of the Appignani Humanist Legal Center, David Niose, argued that “if people are given the right to wear religious garments in government ID photos, then this must extend to people who follow the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster.” Seems legit. For example, if you’re allowed to wear a cross or Star of David around your neck, why shouldn’t you be able to wear a pasta strainer on your head? That wouldn’t be fair now, would it.
In July 2011, Austrian and Pastafarian Niko Alm was granted permission to wear a colander as religious headgear on his Austrian driver’s license—but Austrian authorities required him to obtain a doctor’s certificate that he was “psychologically fit” to drive.
(Photo: Niko Alm via BBC)
[via FOX 35 Orlando]