Curbs and turbans

A sieve is commonly used to pour off spaghetti. Not so for true Pastafarians who manifest their adherence to the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster by wearing a sieve on their heads. In 2011, an Austrian Pastafarian, Mr Alm, was exempted from the regulations for an identity photograph on his driver’s licence so that he could wear a sieve for confessional reasons on this photograph. ¹ Satiric as it may be, this accomplishment sheds a ludic (some would say ludicrous) light on pertinent questions regarding religious symbols. ² Such questions have defined the challenges posed in societies, within Europe and beyond, ³ whenever claims to display religious symbols have been made, during (at least) the last decade. Considered the limited scope of this contribution, three of these questions are focused on. ⁴