Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Pastafarians, the colander crown and your next driving license photo.

The "ex-porn star" reference in the title strikes me as gratuitous, but click bait is hardly confined to scam sites. Meanwhile, the essay is a thoughtful piece on religious freedom.

‘Pastafarian’ Ex-Porn Star Gains The Right To Wear A Pasta Strainer In Her Driver’s License Photo, by Jack Jenkins (Think Progress)

... In all of these cases, the strainer-wearers claimed to be Pastafarians, or followers of the FSM. The religion was founded in 2005 when Bobby Henderson, then a physics student, protested a decision by a Kansas school board that allowed the faith-based theory of intelligent design to be taught alongside evolution. Henderson responded to the move by sending a letter to the school board satirically critiquing the inclusion, arguing that if teaching intelligent design was an attempt to appease creationist Christians, respect should also be given to those who hold “the strong belief that the universe was created by a Flying Spaghetti Monster" ...

... Taken together, colander-crowned Pastafarians such as Lemmon are part of a growing movement among the broader atheist community to push the boundaries of religious freedom — particularly in the United States. Responding to a case brought by the American Humanist Association, for example, an Oregon judge recently declared Secular Humanism a religion for legal purposes, setting up a precedent that could benefit atheists who wish to enjoy privileges traditionally afforded to religious Americans.

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