July 16, 2011

Flying Spaghetti Monster worshipers win victory.
  • I know this is not going to be a popular viewpoint, but I don't consider this a victory. If you have the right to wear a pasta strainer or a yarmulke in your driver's license photo for religious purposes, doesn't it also mean you have a right to wear a full burka? (Maybe that's why Saudi Arabia doesn't allow women to drive?) Yeah, if you want to give up some rational thought in exchange for membership in a joke religion, go ahead. But I don't consider the privileges of any religion worth what the rights I would give up to its Holy rules. The Right to Make Up My Own Mind, Make My Own Mistakes, Change My Own Mind and Learn From Sources Based Upon Facts, not Mythology. Oh wait, that's not in the Bill of Rights, is it?
  • Official policy might be different in Austria. There have been instances of Sikhs insisting on official photos with their headgear in the shot, and even where the turban is allowed in place of a crash helmet.
  • Turbans would help a crash victim. Especially if wrapped around a regulation helmet. But even if not, it might provide at least as much protection as a regulation fedora (with chin strap). Not that fedoras are used much anymore.
  • But seriously, should a Spaghetti Strainer be considered valid "religious headgear" when you bought it from Bed Bath & Beyond? (Pottery Barn, MAYBE)