Illinois Pastafarian Wants to Wear a Colander on his Head for His Driver’s License Picture

[LostOne4Ever]

[font style="font-family:papyrus,'Brush Script MT','Infindel B',fantasy;" size=4 color=teal]Old article but a relevant one.[/font]



[div class="excerpt" style="background-color:#dcdcdc; padding-bottom:5px; border:1px solid #bfbfbf; border-bottom:none; border-radius:0.4615em 0.4615em 0em 0em; box-shadow:3px 3px 3px #999999;"]Illinois Pastafarian Wants to Wear a Colander on his Head for His Driver’s License Picture, but Gets Rejected[div class="excerpt" style="background-color:#f0f0f0; border:1px solid #bfbfbf; border-top:none; border-radius:0em 0em 0.4615em 0.4615em; box-shadow:3px 3px 3px #999999;"] [center]

[/center]
June 22, 2013 by Hemant Mehta

A few years ago, Austrian Niko Alm won the right to wear a colander, the official headgear for Pastafarians, in his driver’s license picture:

?1310662078419

In February of this year, 25-year-old Aaron Williams of New Jersey tried to do something similar but got rejected.

And now it’s happening again.

On May 9th, Donald Hoover went to renew his license in Pekin, Illinois. He figured wearing a colander wouldn’t be a problem since state law allows for “religious head dressings not covering any areas of the open face.” The person assisting him, after speaking with his superiors, eventually told Hoover he couldn’t wear it because Illinois didn’t recognize Pastafarianism as an official religion.

...

[font style="font-family:papyrus,'Brush Script MT','Infindel B',fantasy;" size=4 color=teal]More at link!

Pastafarianism, even if it is a joke religion, deserves the same rights and privileges as any other belief. Who is to say what a "legitimate religion" is or is not? States, governments, groups and organizations that try and deny them the same rights are illiberal and discriminatory and should be called out on it.

From the Pastafarian website:[/font]


[div class="excerpt" style="margin-left:1em; border:1px solid #bfbfbf; border-radius:0.4615em; box-shadow:3px 3px 3px #999999;"]Whatever you decide, remember this

FSM is a real, legitimate religion, as much as any other. The fact that many see this is as a satirical religion doesn’t change the fact that by any standard one can come up with, our religion is as legitimate as any other. And *that* is the point.


[font style="font-family:papyrus,'Brush Script MT','Infindel B',fantasy;" size=4 color=teal]/Ramen[/font]

[Warren Stupidity]

1. Je Suis Donald!

[Curmudgeoness]

2. Is it a satirical religion?

Who is qualified to say that some people do not have faith that this is real? Is there some time limit on how long a religion has to be established before it is recognized as one of the true religions?

I cannot and will not declare that these people are not believers. We have seen worse.....Jim Jones, Heaven's Gate, etc.

[trotsky]

7. Anyone claiming Pastafarianism isn't a "legitimate" religion...

has just started down a very slippery slope. There are undoubtedly millions of people in the world who don't think that person's religion is "legitimate" either. Who gets to judge a religion's "legitimacy"?

[Brainstormy]

8. Well, Wikipedia

has a list of "fictional religions." (Can't imagine how various ones made, or got left off, the list, but I can't find Pastafarians on it.
That makes it a "true" religion, yes?

[trotsky]

9. What makes it a "true" religion is for its followers to say it's one, I think!

But it's good to have Wikipedia backing that up I suppose.

[Curmudgeoness]

12. Widipedia, the authority on everything.

Since it is a site where people can post whatever they want, or update whatever they want, it is hardly the best source...unless you are just looking for what movies someone starred in or when someone died.

But you are right, if Pastafarians are not on the list, they must be a true religion.

[Heddi]

3. I'm really surprised that a supposed open and faith-related group on DU is openly & proudly bigoted

against Pastafarians.

Their SOP even states that Pastafarians are EXCLUDED from participating in their group. Their religion is seen as, get this, being "not real." Their beliefs are, per the host of the group, "a parody intended to mock believers."

Just a few paragraphs before, everyone is welcomed, believers and non-believers. Well, not EVERYBODY. Just some everybodies.

Just a few paragraphs before, everyone is warned "This room is not to mock believers or non-believers," yet a prolific poster of that and other religious-themed groups is allowed, repeatedly, to denigrate and insult an admitted Pastafarian by calling his beliefs "bullshit," and accusing him of being closed minded.

Yeah.

I know.

Seriously.

Open bigotry against another religion simply for being DIFFERENT.

No ban on Scientologists. No ban on Evangelicals. No ban on Creationists. No ban on obvious cults. No ban for anyone practicing those religious. Nope. Ban some of the most open-minded and tolerant believers I've ever met.

Fucking sickening. Bigotry is bigotry, and many of our very own Loving Christian DU'ers are quite happy and proud in their exclusionary group.

I pray their God opens their heart and shows them that they're being nasty shits.

[mr blur]

4. Well, as the saying goes,

[Scuba]

5. Hypocrisy is a necessary ingredient to organized religion.

[trotsky]

6. It's real enough to its followers.

Which should be all it takes.

However, the paragons of tolerance allow themselves to be hypocritical bigots. They can boast about the time they were laughing at the Book of Mormon on a road trip. They can mock and belittle Scientology. That's OK, you see, because reasons and stuff.

[Arugula Latte]

10. Yeah, they won't be thinking it's so "satirical" when

His Noodly Appendage boils, strains, and sauces them for their sins.