[Via NZ Herald – this is the Destiny Church, a controversial fundamentalist group]

The most recent NZ Stats Census found over 4000 Pastafarians in New Zealand.  The NZ Herald notes that is three times the number of reported Destiny Church members (that’s a local fringe fundamentalist Church in NZ).  [here’s the full article]

I’m glad to hear the Church is going strong in NZ.   I lived there during college for a bit and was impressed, it doesn’t surprise me that the NZ people and its government have been so accepting of Pastafarians.

Checking the Minister registry, I see that we have over 250 Ordained Pastafarian Ministers operating in NZ.  [You can get Ordained here]

Here’s a map of our ministers (locations jostled a bit for anonymity). I’m working on a way for ministers to connect with one another. I suspect that many ministers are not aware of nearby Pastafarian people.

Big news

The government of Australia, after years of court proceedings, has decided that Pastafarians will be allowed to wear religious headgear in ID photos.

Here’s the backstory

A few years ago, a member of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster Australia (CFSMA), was allowed to wear his headgear (colander) when photographed for his license, but later forced to surrender the license for a replacement, without headgear.

Preshalin obtained his NSW driver’s license last year, and, at the time, was permitted to wear his religious headwear for his photograph. He has now been informed that he must surrender his present license and have a new photograph taken without his religious headwear, as the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster is not a ‘recognised religion’.

The CFSMA has been fighting in court ever since, and today they were informed that a decision had been made to allow Pastafarians equal religious protection. Victory!

From Captain Tanya Watkin’s media release:

On behalf of the CFSMA I am delighted to announce that the Hon. Melinda Pavey, NSW Minister for Roads, Maritime and Freight, has confirmed that the present policy enforced by RMS regarding religious head coverings in driver’s licenses (that specifically named Pastafarians as being subject to discrimination by not allowing our chosen head covering to be worn) will be changed. The new policy will reflect the fact that NSW Government Departments will show respect and consideration towards all people who wear a head covering. When the new policy is implemented, people will no longer have their stated religion checked against a list of ‘recognised’ religions.

Congratulations to the CFSMA

The Church of FSM Australia continues to blow me away. Tanya Watkins, Captain of CFSMA, especially, deserves a round of applause — she took it on herself to lead the fight, and after more than two years, won a victory for Pastafarians everywhere.

Sincere thanks, and congratulations, to Tanya and everyone from the CFSMA.

Good news: the Wisconsin Department of Transportation says Pastafarians are allowed to wear Colanders in their license photos (despite some having been denied in their earlier attempts).

Attorney Derek Allen deserves the credit — he wrote an impressive letter laying out in detail why DMV rules allow for religious headwear.

Here is Mr. Allen’s letter to the Wisconsin DMV, and their response — they are worth a read.

Thanks Mr. Allen, you are doing great work.