The Dutch Council of State has struck a blow against, well, religious freedom and fun, denying ‘Pastafarians’ the right to wear colanders on their heads in passport pictures.
The Pastafarians, or as they formally call themselves, the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, claim that colanders—the kind most people use to drain spaghetti—are religious headgear. The church developed in the U.S. as a light-hearted and satirical rebuke to groups trying to impose their religion over law, but has now found supporters, some of them serious, around the world.
The lead plaintiff, Mienke de Wilde, of Nijmegen, may be planning an appeal to the EU’s Human Rights Court, saying that her Pastafarian religion is recognized by at least some other EU countries, that believers in other religions are allowed religious headgear in their photos, and the belief that the world was created by the Flying Spaghetti Monster is just as rational as any other creation theory.
A fuller history of the movement and details of an upcoming documentary can be found HERE.
