Posted on 06/09/2012 11:27:29 PM PDT by marthemaria
An Austrian atheist has won the right to be shown on his driving-licence photo wearing a pasta strainer as "religious headgear".
Niko Alm first applied for the licence three years ago after reading that headgear was allowed in official pictures only for confessional reasons.
Mr Alm said the sieve was a requirement of his religion, pastafarianism.
Later a police spokesman explained that the licence was issued because Mr Alm's face was fully visible in the photo.
"The photo was not approved on religious grounds. The only criterion for photos in driving licence applications is that the whole face must be visible," said Manfred Reinthaler, a police spokesman in Vienna.
He was speaking on Wednesday, after Austrian media had first reported Mr Alm's reason for wearing the pasta strainer.
After receiving his application the Austrian authorities had required him to obtain a doctor's certificate that he was "psychologically fit" to drive.
According to Mr Reinthaler, "the licence has been ready since October 2009 - it was not collected, that's all there is to it".
The idea came into Mr Alm's noodle three years a go as a way of making a serious, if ironic, point.
In the same spirit, Mr Alm's pastafarian-style application for a driving licence was a response to the Austrian recognition of confessional headgear in official photographs.
The licence took three years to come through and, according to Mr Alm, he was asked to submit to a medical interview to check on his mental fitness to drive but - straining credulity - his efforts have finally paid off.
It is the police who issue driving licences in Austria, and they have duly issued a laminated card
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.co.uk ...
He haz teh crazieee eyes.
Muslims should be afraid, very afraid.
Heck that even frightens ME.
Lol !
Carmen Miranda rights. Good one! ;)
Not Australian, Austrian.
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