‘Pastafarian’ Scores One for Religious Freedom

When Austrian Niko Alm insisted on wearing a pasta strainer on his head for his drivers license photo, the authorities balked, pointing him to Austria's ban on headgear in state IDs except for religious purposes. Alm shot back that his colander ought to be considered "religious headgear," since he was a devotee of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster (a joke religion dreamed up by atheists to highlight the absurdity of all faiths). That was three years ago. This week, the Austrian government, having tried ignoring him and, when that didn't work, subjecting him to psychiatric evaluation, gave in. Now Alm has a drivers license complete with "pastafarian" get-up. This and other important news in the latest installment of Threat Assessment.