Fringe 'religious' group member escalates his headgear fight with ICBC
Credit to Author: Gordon McIntyre| Date: Sun, 22 Dec 2019 01:24:25 +0000
There is, Gary Smith says, no good reason for ICBC to refuse his request to wear his headgear for his driver’s licence photo.
His headgear, a colander, is part of his religion: Smith is a Pastafarian, a member of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster.
ICBC has informed him it doesn’t qualify as religious headgear, have refused to accept a photo of him wearing it for his licence, and Smith has now filed a complaint with the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal.
“My religious head covering is an expression of my beliefs,” he said. “I am being denied the right to express myself in a manner afforded to members of other beliefs and other faiths …
“There is no test of faith that any government agency, including ICBC, can apply to judge whether or not a person earnestly believes what they profess when they ask to be photographed with a religious head covering.”
Smith is pictured wearing a pasta strainer on his B.C. Marriage Commissioner licence and on his RMCP-approved Firearms Possession and Acquisition Licence.
“Being under threat from ICBC to be without a driver’s licence because I contest their discriminatory policy has the potential impact of limiting my ability to earn a living … and to otherwise function as others do regardless of their beliefs.”
Smith is a realtor in Grand Forks, which entails significant amounts of driving around.
His religion sprang up in 2005 after the Kansas State Board of Education proposed to teach creationism alongside evolution. A man named Bobby Henderson, then a 24-year-old physics student, wrote an open letter mocking the move, which went viral. It read in part that millions of people “feel strongly that the overwhelming scientific evidence towards evolutionary processes is nothing but a coincidence put in place by Him (the Flying Spaghetti Monster).”
Today there are branches of the church in Europe, many U.S. states and in Canada.
“It’s evolved from what Bobby first started with,” Smith said Friday. “I think it would be an over simplification to say it’s just a satire to respond to intelligent design being taught in schools.
“A big part of what (Pastafarianism) is to help create the separation of church and state.”
ICBC has a department dedicated to deciding who may and who may not cover their heads for driver’s licence photos.
“We recognize that freedom of religious expression is a fundamental right and must be respected,” an ICBC spokesman said by email on Saturday. “When it comes to religious head coverings and driver’s licences, we strive to ensure our policies and procedures strike a balance between respecting religious faiths and beliefs, and preserving the integrity of our system.
“If a customer’s head covering is not worn for religious purposes or due to medical treatment, we ask that they remove their head covering for their driver’s licence or BCID photo.”
Smith is asking ICBC to remove the requirements to answer “impertinent” questions about personal beliefs or faith regarding photos and headgear.
“Recognize that a profession of faith is enough to warrant the full exercise of constitutional rights,” he said.
He has not heard back from the tribunal and said he will try for a second extension of his temporary licence, which is due to expire on Dec. 29.
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