Flying Spaghetti Monster Church Claims Religious Freedom Allows Pasta Strainers In Driver’s License Photo

An ordained minister in the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster claims wearing a pasta strainer on his head should be considered religious headgear and is fighting for the religious freedom to wear it for his driver’s license photo.

In a related report by The Inquisitr, a Satanist monument design in Oklahoma brought the issue of the Ten Commandments monument to a head, with Christians, Atheists and other religions debating whether or not other various statues should be allowed on public grounds.

The idea for the Flying Spaghetti Monster found its roots in an effort to mock the arguments set forth by the Intelligent Design movement. Since the methods conceived by the ID movement were claimed to not be capable of identifying the identity of a designer of any type, including God, it was argued that equal time in school should be given to teaching the universe was created by a Flying Spaghetti Monster. Atheists enthusiastically embraced the sarcastic notion, and now it’s used to mock religion in general.

As it turns out, this practicing Pastafarian is not the first to argue that someone should be allowed to wear a spaghetti strainer in a driver’s license photo. A Texas Tech student named Eddie Castillo successfully managed to convince Texas’ Department of Public Safety that he should be allowed to don a strainer for his photo.

Obi Canuel of Canada has not had such luck. He walked into have his driver’s license photo taken in a British Columbia office, and he assumed he wouldn’t have any problem since this is what the government’s website said about religious freedom:

“ICBC affirms your rights to religious expression. You will not be asked to remove any headgear that does not interfere with facial recognition technology as long as it is worn in conjunction with religious practice.”

But in this case the member of the Flying Spaghetti Monster church was rejected, and many months later, Canuel says he’s still waiting:

“I kept being told it was under review. Each time, I was put on hold for at least 20 minutes. It was very difficult to get a clear answer as to what was going on.”

Eventually, the office declared that there was no valid religious reason to wear a strainer:

“Based on the information you have provided, we understand there is no religious requirement that prohibits you from removing the colander for the purpose of taking the photo to appear on your driver’s licence.”

Canuel believes it’s wrong that any government entity should be able to determine whether a religion’s practices are valid or not:

“I don’t think ICBC should be deciding which religions are appropriate or not. I have tried to go through the proper channels and have gotten nowhere. For that reason I’ve taken this private little dispute public.”

Critics around the internet believe it’s possible Canuel is doing this in order to attract attention. Others believe he’s attempting to mock how people of other religions apply for exceptions for their driver’s license photo. Since Pastafarianism is a parody of real religions, it’s argued these complaints are an attempt to parody the issue of religious freedom in relation to governments.

Do you think a member of the Flying Spaghetti Monster church should be allowed to wear a pasta strainer in his or her driver’s license photo?