Catching up on draft posts, most of which will never see the light of day, I found this that I wrote about a week ago. Fortunately, it’s still highly relevant, for the eternal fight between state secularism and private religion continues.
Reader gravityfly has informed me of a most momentous event with an important bearing on America’s freedom of religion. It’s a huge victory for all of us.
As reported at HuffPo, Texan Eddie Castillo, a devout Patafarian, has won the right to be photographed for his driver’s license. And he’s from Lubbock, a conservative town in a conservative state.
Castillo told KLBK that the triumphant moment came after a lengthy fight with the state’s Department of Public Safety that the unusual headgear was protected as part of his religious beliefs. He worships the Flying Spaghetti Monster, a deity created by an atheist in 2005 in protest of the Kansas School Board’s defense of teaching intelligent design. According to its founding principles, “the only dogma allowed in the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster is the rejection of dogma.”
Castillo is the first American to successfully have his government-issued photo identification taken while wearing a colander, though DPS officials are reportedly planning to follow up with Castillo in order to “rectify” the situation. Others have tried unsuccessfully, and Castillo told KLBK that he was surprised at his victory, which he called a “political and religious milestone for all atheists everywhere.”
“Especially in Lubbock County where we are kind of looked at as one of the most conservatives cities in the country,” Castillo said. “I’ve heard of the stories happening of the guy getting arrested for attempting to do the same thing that I was doing so when I walked in there I had to mentally prepare myself to probably gather bond or something to get out of jail.”
The part in bold, though, worries me. The photo, as shown at the at the KLTV site is for a “temporary license,” and I suspect the state won’t let him wear the strainer in his photo for a permanent license.
As usual, Europe is ahead of the U.S. in its openness to social deviance:
Pastafarians in Europe have seen more success in their efforts to pay homage to the Flying Spaghetti Monster in official documents. Earlier this month, Czech citizen Lukas Novy was issued an ID showing him wearing colander, after officials ruled that turning down his request would violate the nation’s religious equality laws. Austrian atheist Niko Alm’s license also shows him wearing a strainer, the product of a lengthy legal fight.
I’ve posted before on Novy’s ID, and here’s Niko Alm’s driver’s license:
this is the kind of thing that only happens in the USA, but it’s really cool!
Apparently not only in USA. Didn’t you read the whole article?
you got me, i didn t, i just took a look at it in the reader… are you from greece?
Originally yes. Leave in the States for the last 18 years or so though.
nice, I m greek too, lived in France for a while… nice to meet you.
As the Hitch would often say, one of his main goals was to put an end to the situation where calling someone a “person of faith” automatically garners respect (or is expected to do so by the believers). To me, labeling someone “a devout Pastafarian” goes a long way toward that goal.
R’amen.
Satire is often a good way of getting a few points across.
I’m not sure what the upside would be for the state in holding up Castillo’s permanent license and forcing him to come back for a second photo. All that does is put the colander photo back on the front page of the news.
Whereas if they just let him keep it, the issue goes away and the only people who’ll see it are bartenders and Highway Patrol officers.
And you think folk in Texas got their reputations by being practical?
And no doubt the mostly conservative police officers will treat him with equal respect and even-handed justice when they see it, right? He’s going to pay a cost for winning. I wish that weren’t true and him going through with it probably makes it less true in the long run. But for now, I just wish him luck.
“He’s going to pay a cost for winning.’
If so, he will join the legion of holy martyrs who have suffered or died for their farfalle.
As a long-time resident of Texas I agree with the statement that police officers and State troopers here are mostly conservative.
This guy is in for a rough time if he gets pulled over or otherwise comes to the attention of law enforcement.
DPS Troopers will be conservative, but I’ve always found them to be highly professional and respectful of diversity. Now the local cops employed towns so small you wonder why they even need police, be careful with them or you could have a very bad day.
Haha…small town TX cops are somehing else!
Durum extrusion with extra garlic for orthopraxy irreverence.
As someone who finds religious absurdity particularly hilarious and who considers herself something of an absurdist, I am drawn to the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster and absolutely LOVE this story.
May the sauce be with you 😉
meanwhile, in NJ you can’t get your drivers license photo wearing eyeglasses. Apparently our very sophisticated facial recognition software is easily confused.
Can believe they let him smile. In Chicago Heights, Illinois you couldn’t get away with that…
Here in NZ, you can apply for a passport online and upload a .JPG photo – which the software checks before accepting. But the requirements are very fussy with regards to your expression (no smiles or frowns), no glasses, size and position of head etc, plain background with no shadows (and it states ‘original un-manipulated photo’). So I took a whole lot of photos with a backlight to kill shadows on the wall behind me, selected the best, and submitted it – it bounced – ‘too many shadows’. Tried another, lightly tweaked – it bounced – ‘not enough contrast’. $##^%^@$#@!? So I submitted another, tweaked within an inch of its life – and it accepted. Not sure what the moral is…
Moral:
“Technology is not always your friend,”
“Technology: Making Life Easier by making it harder”
“Persistance pays.”
I think the problem with stunts like this is that they will be widely seen as mean-spirited mockery of religious people in general, which isn’t really conducive to promoting atheism.
The only statement which is guaranteed to not be perceived as mockery or persecutory by some religious folk, somewhere:
Stunt? What stunt?
I know! That’s that Gary W’s mean-spirited mockery of Pastafarians!!
/@
I have been a huge fan of the Flying Spaghetti Monster movement for a number of years. I even used their graph correlating increase in global temperatures with decrease in number of pirates
in a H.S. stats course I taught…The brighter kids got it – the slower kids just shook their heads…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_Spaghetti_Monster
That said, I have yet to wear a colander on my head.
Haha… Well done! 🙂
I’ve resisted Pastafarianism so far. But if I can wear a colander in my DL photo? I’ll convert!
Be sure to bring out your best Sunday colander.