What do Spaghetti and Driving have in common?
By AnjaP
@Rollo1 (16679)
Boston, Massachusetts
November 13, 2015 2:28pm CST
Well, not a lot. Unless you are in Massachusetts.
Finally, I can once again be proud of my state for standing up for religious liberty. A court has ruled that a woman who calls herself a "Pastafarian" can wear a colander on her head in her driver's license photo.
You know, I would never join the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster myself, but I would defend the right of anyone to do so if they so wished. And if they need to wear a pasta strainer on their heads, well, that's alright by me. As long as we can see her face, I don't care.
It's the people who want to wear religious garments that cover the face that I wouldn't allow. They could be anyone under there. The idea of a license photo is provide identification, which cannot be made without a face to look at.
But a colander is fine. We can see eyes, nose, mouth, maybe even ears. And if she drives with a colander on her head, she's going to be extremely easy to spot on the roadways.
I don't have time to pursue silly things like this, but I slightly admire people who do. I love to fight ridiculous battles over unimportant things.
On the other hand, she is taking up time and resources in an already overcrowded court system to prove a rather frivolous point.
Do you think she should have been allowed to wear kitchen utensils in her photo? Is she brave and standing up for freedom, or a very silly person taking up valuable space on a crowded court docket?
16 people like this
17 responses
@Marilynda1225 (83064)
• United States
13 Nov 15
This world is full of crazy people and what they fight for the right to do. I agree that as long as the face is uncovered and can be identified then I really don't care what they wear on their head. What will be next..Mickey Mouse ears?
5 people like this
@Marilynda1225 (83064)
• United States
13 Nov 15
I'd be a little skeptical pulling along side her at a light LOL
1 person likes this
@Tampa_girl7 (50580)
• United States
14 Nov 15
She sounds like a bit of a fruit-o-loop to me
1 person likes this
@Tampa_girl7 (50580)
• United States
14 Nov 15
@Rollo1 I took a peek. She looks like a fruit-o-loop too.
@Jessicalynnt (50523)
• Centralia, Missouri
14 Nov 15
This made me giggle, I wonder if I would get funny looks if i wore a colander to work tomorrow.
1 person likes this
@Orson_Kart (6827)
• United Kingdom
14 Nov 15
@UncleJoe lol With a crash helmet on I hope!
1 person likes this
@Jessicalynnt (50523)
• Centralia, Missouri
14 Nov 15
@UncleJoe I knew a guy who always had Snoopy strapped in the um, passenger, sorry the name i know for that seat is rude, lol
1 person likes this
@Jessicalynnt (50523)
• Centralia, Missouri
14 Nov 15
@UncleJoe that makes it even better
1 person likes this
@djgarner86 (289)
• Exeter, England
13 Nov 15
Hahahah - I have read about that "religion" if you can call it that before so surprised it has come to something like this.
I say each to their own, if she isn't effecting anyone, hurting anyone or causing any harm then let her be. Each person has a choice which religion, if any, they follow.
3 people like this
@djgarner86 (289)
• Exeter, England
13 Nov 15
@Rollo1 We have a driving agency that says what we can or cannot look like / wear. Obviously they allow a turban if you are of a Sikh religion. The whole law case is to say "well it's my religion therefore you must accept it" - the court can't say yes to one religion and not another.
1 person likes this
@djgarner86 (289)
• Exeter, England
13 Nov 15
Even if the world "religion" is being used very loosely in this discussion.
@GardenGerty (160879)
• United States
13 Nov 15
Here I am at myLot, expanding my education. I think if her face is not covered and her head covering is not obscene she should be fine. The government chose to pursue the issue. It is a waste of time and resources.
1 person likes this
@Orson_Kart (6827)
• United Kingdom
14 Nov 15
I think she is just proving how ridiculous religion is. It's simply a get out clause for following the rules that the rest of us accept. You can now even join the Atheist Society, which to me is following another religion, even though it is anti-religion. Makes no sense to me. We should all just follow the true GOD - MONEY
1 person likes this
@Rollo1 (16679)
• Boston, Massachusetts
14 Nov 15
I think she proved how ridiculous she is. She will appear in public with a spaghetti strainer on her head because it hurts her so deeply inside that other people believe in God. That's fairly close to mental illness. How far is that kind of obsession with hating other people's beliefs from committing terrorism to stop other people from believing differently than you? It's not that far. She is attention-seeking, dismissive of the beliefs of others, willing to go to great lengths to express her dislike of the beliefs of others... etc. Luckily, she is just a silly person with too much time on her hands. But what if she were more angry, etc? She is ridiculous.
@AbbyGreenhill (45494)
• United States
14 Nov 15
What nut house did she escape from?
1 person likes this
@AbbyGreenhill (45494)
• United States
14 Nov 15
@Rollo1 After having driven up there I can attest to that.
@Fleura (30539)
• United Kingdom
14 Nov 15
I'm not quite sure what point she is trying to make, is it to fight for the right to wear a colander, or the right to wear religious headgear, or the right to wear anything on one's head? Or is to point out the discrepancy between what is allowed in the name of religion and what is allowed on other grounds?
1 person likes this
@Rollo1 (16679)
• Boston, Massachusetts
14 Nov 15
The law is that you cannot wear head covering (hats, etc) in the photo unless it is for religious reasons. To this particular person, that feels like some people are getting special privileges, so she says "I am a Pastafarian, and this colander is my religious head-wear". So, her problem is that someone wearing religious head gear is somehow bothering her, so she's getting back at them. It's the point of someone who has nothing important in life to care about.
1 person likes this
@PainsOnSlate (21852)
• Canada
14 Nov 15
My response to your question is both! Yes I think she's an idiot but I laughed all the way through your discussion and that makes me happy. There is nothing like a true laugh out loud funny story. You get the prize for this one.
@Pattitude (1287)
• Newton, North Carolina
13 Nov 15
I have never heard of this! I think if they will allow burkas then they should allow colanders!
1 person likes this
@HebrewGreekStudies (1646)
• Canada
14 Nov 15
I would be inclined to think that would be taking up valuable space, and...I think it would actually be a horrible example of religion being used to excuse the most absurd of things. See...my mother's family are survivors from the Holocaust...I would tend to see this as, a vulgar waste of resources with religion being a scapegoat. It's not that she's wearing a collander that, I find disturbing...it's that religion is being used in such a manner which is rediculous...it lends to abuse...and tolerance of abuse. I'm saying that as a religious person.
1 person likes this
@Rollo1 (16679)
• Boston, Massachusetts
14 Nov 15
Of course, the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster is an atheist church, and their point is to mock religion by being classified as a religion. As a Christian, I find it personally offensive that they mock God, but as an American I recognize the absolute necessity of supporting the First Amendment and religious liberty. I believe we have to allow all religious expression that is not harmful to others.
However, this is not a question of freedom of worship at all. Driving is not a religious activity. The state has every right to disallow everything from baseball caps to colanders being worn in a license photo.
I think she is trying to prove a point, and it's one she is using to mock other people of faith, any faith. And I do think it's an abuse of the judicial system. I also doubt she will ever drive around with a colander on her head.
1 person likes this
@HebrewGreekStudies (1646)
• Canada
14 Nov 15
@Rollo1 "I also doubt she will ever drive around with a colander on her head", if this was the case, do you think she should possibly be found in contempt of court? In my opinion, this would be fraud. Oddly enough, Canada is much more Liberal then the States...but in certain places here, this kind of thing simply would not even be entertained.
to keep my concentration.
@valmnz (17097)
• New Zealand
15 Nov 15
I would have thought that a person wearing a colander while driving would be a distraction to other drivers, thus having the possibility of causing an accident from drivers who can't help staring. And, as a drivers licence is often used as an identification document, she really must be made now to wear that colander - that same one - wherever she goes. After all, without her colander, or with a different one, she is not really the same person is she?
