Austrian Man Wins Right To Wear Pasta Strainer In License Photo

[Earth_First]

In Austria one of the strangest fights for religious freedom has come to an end: Niko Alm, a self-described "Pastafarian," fought for three years for the right to wear a pasta strainer on his head in his driver's license photo.

His argument? Alm claimed he belonged to the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster and wearing the strainer was part of his religion.



The BBC reports:

Mr Alm's pastafarian-style application for a driving licence was a response to the Austrian recognition of confessional headgear in official photographs.

The licence took three years to come through and, according to Mr. Alm, he was asked to submit to a medical interview to check on his mental fitness to drive but - straining credulity - his efforts have finally paid off.

It is the police who issue driving licences in Austria, and they have duly issued a laminated card showing Mr. Alm in his unorthodox item of religious headgear.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-14135523

The AFP reports that Alm now wants to apply for "Pastafarianism to become an officially recognised faith in Austria."

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hTBXeJNa93rEgmG8Rfvvik6SIWDA?docId=CNG.1a520310fd53287b78bc3c012e7eae10.841

via NPR: http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2011/07/13/137824732/austrian-man-wins-right-to-wear-pasta-strainer-in-license-photo?sc=fb&cc=fp

[Shagbark Hickory]

1. I can't see it on this monitor but cute story so K&R

[Lone_Star_Dem]

2. All glory goes to the Flying Spaghetti Monster!

Amen. :D

[demmiblue]

5. Sacrilegious!

:o



It is ramen, not amen.

:evilgrin:

[Lone_Star_Dem]

8. My pardons....

I'm a new convert. My reprogramming isn't complete.

:evilgrin:

[Buns_of_Fire]

3. Ramen! nt

[librechik]

4. pastafarians should be allowed to wear their traditional sacred costume too

[KittyWampus]

6. If he's pulled over without it on, they should pull him in for lying on a legal document.

[Zywiec]

7. +1

[snooper2]

10. He only has to wear it when the Flying Spaghetti Monster

gives you visions of dripping pasta sauce.

JEEEEESHHHHHHH, I thought people here were up on the various religious tenets :eyes:

[dixiegrrrrl]

9. God, I love it.

:bounce: :bounce:

[struggle4progress]

11. Nudelsieb doch nicht aus religiösen Gründen genehmigt

http://derstandard.at/1310511140592/Fuehrerschein-Nudelsieb-doch-nicht-aus-religioesen-Gruenden-genehmigt

Colander, but not approved for religious reasons
... there is no such religious exemption for driver's license pictures, reports religion.orf.at, citing Manfred Reinthaler, spokesman for the Vienna Police Department. "The photo was not approved for religious reasons. In license photographs, the only criterion is that the whole face must be recognizable" ... So Niko Alm's statement, that his colander had been accepted by the authority as a religious head covering, was false. The colander was only approved because no part of Alm's face was obscured ...

hattip: FranzlLang, commenting at Pharyngula

[struggle4progress]

12. Interview zur Spaßreligion: „Das Nudelsieb ist doch nur ein Symbol

http://www.faz.net/artikel/C30602/interview-zur-spassreligion-das-nudelsieb-ist-doch-nur-ein-symbol-30462826.html

Interview about a fun religion
"The colander is just a symbol"
In Catholic Austria, a follower of the fun religion "Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster", Austrian Niko Alm, has obtained a driver's license with a photo showing a colander on his head ...
Now the office says they were unable to refuse, because the face is recognizable in the photo release. How did your encounter with the office begin?
At the end of 2008 ... The officer took my papers without a word. Shortly thereafter I got a call that my application was impossible with the photo. And I had an interview in early 2009 with a medical officer, who stated that I was "mentally capable" to drive a car. After a long delay, the license was issued. But I was not notified; I learned by chance that the license was already in the office. Information on the ID card shows that it was issued on 12 October 2009 ...

[struggle4progress]

13. Heilige Pasta!

http://jetzt.sueddeutsche.de/texte/anzeigen/527655/Heilige-Pasta

Addendum, 07/14/2011
Yesterday, many media reported Austrian police had recognized the colander as a religious head covering. That's not true. Manfred Reinthaler, of the Vienna police, said in a "Vienna Today" interview, that whether or not Niko Alm considered the colander as a religious symbol, it played no role in the process. The sole determining factor is whether the head is fully mapped and recognizable. Niko Alm also confirmed that ...

[Kolesar]

14. pix

[pacalo]

16. On closer look, it's even got a handle & an eye for a hook!

:rofl:

[joeybee12]

15. I love this...knr