Dutch Court Rules That Pastafarianism Is Not In Fact A Religion, Flying Spaghetti Monster Denied Recognition
The Dutch council of state has announced their verdict that they will not recognize Pastafarianism as a religion after a Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster follower requested to wear a colander in her passport and driver’s license photos, reports The Guardian.
The Netherlands’ highest court denied follower Mienke de Wilde’s request to wear the colander after she claimed that the kitchenware was considered official religious headwear. The court ruled that Pastafarianism was not a serious faith and that they would not recognize the colander as religious attire.
The church was founded in 2005 by Bobby Henderson, who requested that teaching time be set aside in science classes for Flying Spaghetti Monsterism, reportedly in response to Christians pushing for creationism to be taught in schools.
Followers of the faith worship the Flying Spaghetti Monster, wear colanders on their heads, and honor pirates as the original Pastafarians. They also reject “crazy nonsense,” eat copious amounts of pasta, and respect all sentient beings.
Pastafarianism has since spread to other nations, most of which have not recognized it as a religion. It is officially recognized by the New Zealand government and was approved to carry out marriages in 2015. In some countries, followers are allowed to wear the colanders and pirate outfits in official identity photographs.
As a parody of organized religion, Pastafarianism has a list of commandments, called The Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster. It includes eight “I’d Really Rather You Didn’t” tenets. Instead of saying “amen,” followers say “ramen” at the end of prayers. Additionally, they believe that when they die, they will ascend to heaven where there are stripper factories and a beer volcano.
After the Dutch court’s ruling, de Wilde told the Algemeen Dagblad newspaper that she felt very disappointed by the verdict, writes The Guardian.
“I can imagine that it all looks very odd if you don’t believe. But that’s the case with many faiths if you don’t believe in them – people who walk on water or divide themselves in two, for example. I find other religions unbelievable.”
Unfortunately for the Pastafarians, the Dutch court ruling was very clear on its denial of the religion.
“It may be the case that the colander is considered a holy object for Pastafarians, worn in honor of the Flying Spaghetti Monster but there is no obligation to do so…It is important to be able to criticize religious dogma freely through satire but that does not make such criticism a serious religion.”
The council also added that Pastafarianism lacked the “seriousness and coherence” of a religion.
