World News
Pastafarianism now an official religion in The Netherlands─── EARL COETZEE 15:47 Mon, 27 Jun 2016
Amsterdam - After several years of bureaucratic wrangling, the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster has gained official recognition in the Netherlands.
The country is now the world's third nation which recognises Pastafarianism as a legitimate religion, alongside more traditional ones, like Christianity and Islam. New Zealand and Poland were the first two countries.
The Church of the Flying Spaghetti was founded in 2005, as a parody of the intelligent design doctrine taught in schools in Kansas in America. It claims that the universe was created by an invisible monster which resembles spaghetti and two meatballs. They have in the past offered a $100 000 dollar challenge to anyone to produce empirical evidence that Jesus is not the son of the Flying Spaghetti Monster.
The religion's proponents are known to wear colanders on their heads and celebrate their official holidays with beer and pasta. According to a statement on the Dutch Church's website, this is also how they celebrated their official recognition, which now sees them enjoying tax-exempt status.
