Man wins right to wear pasta strainer on driver licence
An Austrian man who claims to be a ‘Pastafarian’ has won the right to wear a pasta strainer on his head for his driver licence photo.
Niko Alm, a self-confessed atheist who belongs to the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, applied for his licence three years ago, arguing that the kitchen utensil was a requisite in Pastafarianism.
He was then required by Austrian authorities to obtain a medical certificate which stated that he was psychologically fit to drive. According to his blog, it took Alm three years of battling with a psychologist to finally get it.
"Today I was able to get my new driving licence, and in it you can clearly see that I'm wearing a colander on my head to demonstrate my allegiance to the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster," Alm posted on his blog. "My headwear has now been recognised by the Republic of Austria."
The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster became mainstream in May 2005, after a letter was published to oppose pressure to teach intelligent design, a creationism theory, as an alternative to natural selection in American schools.
There are no strict regulations, rituals or prayers in Pastafarianism, but its followers consider it a real religion – one that has existed for ‘hundreds of years’.
Some of their most notable beliefs are:
- Pirates were the original Pastafarians. They were peaceful explorers and it was due to Christian misinformation that they have an image of outcast criminals today.
- Pastafarians are fond of beer.
- Pastafarians don’t take themselves too seriously and embrace contradiction.
- Every Friday is a religious holiday.
- Global warming and other natural disasters are a direct effect of the shrinking numbers of Pirates since the 1800s.
