‘Pastafarian’ wins right to wear a colander on the head in driving licence photo
Lindsay Miller of Massachusetts had previously been forbidden from wearing the strainer in allegience to the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster
A woman in the US has won the right to wear a colander on her head in her driving licence photo.
The Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles had previously forbidden Lindsay Miller from sporting the unconventional headgear, worn by followers of the satirical Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, or ‘Pastafarians’.
However, the decision was overturned after Miller launched an appeal with the assistance of the Secular Legal Society. Lawyer Patty DeJuneas told the Boston Globe: «I’m not a Pastafarian. But my understanding, and my view of it, is that it’s a secular religion that uses parody to make certain points about a belief system.»
The Pastafarian ‘religion’ was founded a decade ago after the Kansas school board came under pressure to teach the theory of intelligent design in biology class as an alternative to evolution.
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‘Pastafarian’ Woman Allowed To Wear Spaghetti Strainer In Driver’s License Photo http://cbsloc.al/1NvnbrF
Miller said: «As a member of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, I feel delighted that my Pastafarianism has been respected.
«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.»
Bobby Henderson, founder of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, said: «I feel like our efforts to wear Religious Headwear in Official Identification may be misunderstood occasionally … the Church of FSM is not a mean-spirited group and that we’re not out to mock anyone’s particular religion or their religious hats.
«It is just that it’s weird to find these places where bureaucratic regulation and religion are entangled — and I hope that we’re doing more good than bad when we fight for equal right to use these rules. I realise that we may inadvertently offend a few religious people (and maybe annoy a few bureaucrats) and for that I’m sorry.»
Earlier this year, ‘Pastafarian’ Ian Harris accused the DVLA of discrimination for rejecting a photo of him with a colander on his head.
