Straining for a Right to Believe
By OCinSite At-Large on July 21, 2011 11:44 AM | Comments (17)
Niko Alm’s driver’s license photo in which he sports his religious freedom. | Photo courtesy NPR
By Eyder Peralta | NPR
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 license was a response to the Austrian recognition of confessional headgear in official photographs.The license 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 licenses in Austria, and they have duly issued a laminated card showing Mr. Alm in his unorthodox item of religious headgear. The AFP reports that Alm now wants to apply for “Pastafarianism to become an officially recognized faith in Austria.”
