Just over the border from New Hampshire in the Massachusetts city of Lowell, a woman identifying herself as a follower of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster (FSM), otherwise known as Pastafarianism, has been approved by the state’s Registry of Motor Vehicles (RMV) to wear a spaghetti strainer on top of her head in her state issued driver’s ID.
The approval to wear the helmet was initially denied. However, citing religious grounds, Lowell resident Lindsay Miller filed an appeal. Following intervention by the American Humanist Association’s Appignani Humanist Legal Center, the RMV reversed their decision and allowed her to put on her colander and get her driver’s license picture taken.
Silly? Absolutely.
But is it really any more silly than than wearing a Burqa, or a Jewish yarmulka, or even a cross around your neck?
I think not.
And I for one am glad that this clearly very dedicated congregant of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster did not have her constitutionally protected religious rights trampled on by the non-believers.
