Pastafarian wears colander in license photo: "It's a little ridiculous, I know"



PHOENIX, Arizona -- An Arizona man has maybe one of the most unique driver's license photos around.

Sean Corbett of Chandler says he recently won his fight to wear a pasta strainer on his head in his picture, claiming religious expression.

Corbett is a Pastafarian, a follower of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster.

"Basically the premise of the religion is just to kind of chose what you want to do, be good to other people, and have fun," said Corbett.

FSM was created in 2005 to fight teaching Creationism to students in public schools. It believes in a floating deity made of pasta and meatballs.

"So basically the religion is a parody of intelligent design," said Corbett.

The group's website says, "We are not anti-religion, we are anti- crazy nonsense done in the name of religion. There is a difference." It adds, "Some Pastafarians honestly believe in the FSM, and some see it as satire. 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."

Part of that includes wearing a colander as a hat.

"It's a little ridiculous, I know," said Corbett. "And of course, enjoy pasta. We celebrate by eating anything with noodles in it."

He says it took him years to finally get an Motor Vehicle Department office to let him take the photo.

"Of course I got some laughs and some dirty looks," he said.

ADOT says it allows for religious expressions and medical needs, but says it should reflect a person's daily appearance.

"If any religion is allowed, all religions should be allowed," said Corbett.

After multiple rejections, Corbett got his new ID.

"I was pretty excited, being the first person to accomplish this is a huge deal because then it opens up the door to other Pastafarians," said Corbett.

He believes he's the first in the state to win this right, though ADOT says it doesn't keep track of this type of data.

"Between political views and religious views, it's just forms of divide. We don't really need to be divided. At the end of the day, we are just human beings. Of course, we all believe different things and we all come from different origins, and those things need to be respected," said Corbett.

ADOT says all ID photos are run through facial recognition software. If there's an error, and the computers can't read a picture, a photo can be recalled.