Mass. Woman Wins Fight to Wear Colander in Driver’s License by Citing ‘Pastafarian’ Religion
13th November 2015
A Massachusetts woman this week won the right to wear a colander on her head in her driver’s license photo after citing religious reasons. Lindsay Miller identifies as a “Pastafarian” and member of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, which some critics call a parody religion.
Imagine that.
She tried to wear the kitchen utensil in her driver’s license photo this year but the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles denied her request. However, after intervention by the American Humanist Association’s Appignani Humanist Legal Center the RMV recently reversed its stance.
This is why it’s not a good idea to put government employees in charge of anything important, such as your health insurance or your tax money.
Ms. Miller said she was delighted that the agency allowed her to don a colander for her driver’s license, which was issued Thursday.
I have absolutely no doubt that she is. The rest of us, on the other hand, not so much.
“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,” Ms. Miller said.
Of course, if she had just called it an especially sturdy niqab, nobody would have dared to say boo about it.