The Czech Republic is now the second country in Europe to recognize pasta strainers as religious headgear.
The Daily Mail reported Thursday that Lukas Novy from Brno in the Czech Republic has won the right to wear a pasta strainer on his head at all times in observance of his faith in the Flying Spaghetti Monster. His official photo ID now includes his pasta strainer hat.
"The application complies with the laws of the Czech Republic where headgear for religious or medical reasons is permitted if it does not hide the face," Brno City Hall spokesman Pavel Zara explained.
Czech media reported that Novy is an IT professional, member of the Pirate Party, and devout Pastafarian.
Entrepreneur Niko Alm also won the right to wear a pasta strainer for his Austrian ID photo in 2011, after a three year battle with authorities.
But many countries still refuse to acknowledge the Church of the Flying Spagetti Monster. Pastafarians in Belgium and Poland attempted to have their pasta strainer hats recognized, but were rebuffed by authorities. In the United States earlier this year, a Motor Vehicle Commission office in New Jersey called the police on a man who refused to remove a pasta strainer from his head.
Members of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster believe the theory of gravity is actually a hoax. Things stay on the ground rather than float away because the Flying Spaghetti Monster holds them down with his noodly appendages.
"Some claim that the church is purely a thought experiment, satire, illustrating that Intelligent Design is not science, but rather a pseudoscience manufactured by Christians to push Creationism into public schools. These people are mistaken. The Church of FSM is real, totally legit, and backed by hard science. Anything that comes across as humor or satire is purely coincidental," the church's official website explains.
[Image via Giovanni Dall'Orto, Creative Commons licensed]
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