Georgia Says 'Pastafarian' Can't Wear Colander on Head in License Photo

SNELLVILLE, GA -- Maybe members of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster really do believe in a diety shaped like pasta and in a heaven with a beer volcano.

But they can’t wear colanders on their heads in their driver’s license photos, says a lawyer for the Georgia Department of Driver Services.

Chris Avino, who now lives in Las Vegas but was issued a temporary driver’s license from his parents’ home in Snellville, originally was allowed to don a colander in that license’s photo after citing his religious beliefs as a “Pastafarian.”

Now, Georgia says it made a Spaghetti Monster-sized mistake and that he needs to take another photo.

“A colander is not a veil, scarf or headdress,” Department of Driver Services general counsel Angelique McClendon said to Avino in a letter obtained by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “A colander is a kitchen utensil commonly used for ‘washing or draining food.’“

Avino said he decided to pose for his license photo wearing a colander after reading about a woman in Massachussetts who did the same. He said he intends to reply to the state, saying that his First Amendment rights are being infringed upon.

“I think it’s absurd,” he said. “It’s just as valid as any other religion.”

The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster is considered by many to be a parody of organized religion. Members frequently dress as pirates and on multiple occasions have inserted themselves into church-and-state debates like the display of religious symbols on government property.

On its website, the church denies being strictly a parody, while at the same time acknowledging that many members don’t literally believe its teachings.

“Some Pastafarians honestly believe in the FSM, and some see it as satire,” the site reads. “I would just make the point that satire is an honest, legitimate basis for religion. Satire relies on truth to be effective. If it’s a joke, it’s a joke where to understand the punchline you must be conscious of underlying truth.”

That’s apparently not enough to convince the state of Georgia, however.

“Pastafarianism is not actually a religion. Rather it is a philosophy that mocks religions,” McClendon wrote in the letter. ”DDS does not view satire or mockery of a religion as a religion.”

Avino says he doesn’t literally believe in the church’s teachings, but that he does believe in what it stands for. He told the AJC he doesn’t think anyone should be allowed to wear head covers because of their religion, but that if it’s allowed for anyone, it should be allowed for everyone.

Photo: Joe Mabel / Wikimedia Commons