The head of the B.C. Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster (CFSM) has been dealt another cold plate of pasta as B.C.’s ombudsperson has rejected an appeal of the removal of his pirate-hatted picture from his security licence.
The Office of the B.C. Ombudsperson told Gary Smith, also known as Dread Pyrate Higgs, that his complaint regards a religion not recognized by the B.C. Human Rights Code.
Smith, however, asked: who gets to decide what is and is not a religion?
Smith submitted two photos to the Security Programs Division (SPD): one without a head covering and another in which he wore a tricorn hat.
A picture without the hat was issued. An April 12 letter from ombudsperson officer Irene McGee to Smith said he had objected to the hatless photo being used.
"'I wear a head covering as an expression of my religious faith,'" she said he wrote. “You asserted that the Charter of Rights and Freedoms gives you the right to be depicted in the head covering. You explained you had provided the other photo ‘under duress,’ out of concern of delay. You later wrote hat you no longer consented to SPD using the photo with no head covering.”
However, in 2022, Smith renewed his licence and a document with him wearing his pirate hat was issued.
But, McGee said, the registrar of security services soon said the licence had been issued in error and a new one without the hat would be issued. Smith was told to return the hatted licence.
She said her understanding for the complaint to the ombudsperson was that Smith believed he was the subject of religious discrimination.
B.C. Human Rights Tribunal
McGee noted Smith’s 2019 complaint to the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal (BCHRT) that ICBC was refusing him a religious exemption. She said the tribunal had refused his claim, saying it did not meet the definition of religion set out by the Supreme Court of Canada in its 2004 decision in Syndicat Northcrest v. Amselem.
In refusing Smith’s claim, the tribunal said Syndicat Northcrest v. Amselem said, “freedom of religion consists of the freedom to undertake practices and harbour beliefs, having a nexus with religion, in which an individual demonstrates he or she sincerely believes or is sincerely undertaking in order to connect with the divine or as a function of his or her spiritual faith, irrespective of whether a particular practice or belief is required by official religious dogma or is in conformity with the position of religious officials.”
The tribunal rejected Smith’s claim saying protection under the code “does not require accommodation of a practice satirizing religious practice in providing a service customarily available to the public."
“You are a Pastafarian and member of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster which mocks religious beliefs and certain religious practices," the tribunal told Smith.
B.C. Supreme Court
B.C. Supreme Court Justice Gary Weatherill upheld that tribunal's decision in 2021.
The judge did note some of Smith’s comments offered “a degree of intellectual and thought-provoking insight.”
What Smith observed, Weatherill said in his decision, was that, “A person does not have to look far past one’s own nose to appreciate that all religions are mutually incompatible to varying degrees and that members of each regularly mock, satirize, and criticize the beliefs of others.
"Consider the three Abrahamic religions; Judaism, Christianity, and Islam: while all three have a common origin and worship the same god, a non-Jew is a gentile, a non-Christian is a heathen, and a non-Muslim is an infidel. When one considers the millions of gentiles, heathens and infidels who met with a gruesome end for not believing in the ‘right’ religion, it may be considered high time that a religion that values humour, self-deprecation and silliness is the vessel sailing to calmer seas.
"And should it be posited that Pastafarians are simply atheists rocking he boat of religiosity we would counter that the diversity of belief is far greater than anyone might realistically account for. Ultimately, we are atheistic to all gods other than the one we believe in,” Smith is quoted in the ruling.
Smith reads the 2004 decision differently as saying B.C. government officials do not have the authority to dictate his religious beliefs.
“It’s a really good court case,” he said. “It really spells it out.”
He relies on a number of comments in that high court ruling.
“The State is in no position to be, nor should it become, the arbiter of religious dogma,” the decision said.
“Defined broadly, religion typically involves a particular and comprehensive system of faith and worship,” the court held. “In essence, religion is about freely and deeply held personal convictions or beliefs connected to an individual’s spiritual faith and integrally linked to his or her self‑definition and spiritual fulfilment, the practices of which allow individuals to foster a connection with the divine or with the subject or object of that spiritual faith.”
The security licence
McGee told Smith she was “unable to conclude licensing bodies must approve every request for religious exemption at face-value to avoid breaching human rights. A licensing body has discretion to deny exemptions where they reasonably conclude a request does not meet the standard required for the exemption.”
And, she said, “although the SPD did not directly address your allegations of discrimination, it is reasonable to infer that the denial was based on a finding that Pastafarianism is not a religion protected by the code.”
In an April 24 response to McGee, Smith said ICBC, the tribunal, the court, the SPD or the ombudsperson’s office had not considered his position on its own merit.
“Clearly, the BCHRT simply formulated an opinion of my stated religion and by fiat declared me unworthy of protection under the Human Rights Code,” Smith wrote. “Again, I was not given the courtesy of consideration but was summarily judged on the basis of a presupposition. In my view, Syndicat Northcrest v. Amselem supports my position in every way that is meaningful.”
He also has similar photos on his marriage commissioner’s and firearms possession licences.
The prophet
Bobby Henderson, the U.S.-based CFSM prophet told Glacier Media he receives many emails each time Smith appears in the news.
Henderson said each time government bureaucrats give Smith a hard time, it only energizes him.
“Gary Smith is a legend and I think he will win. It's only a matter of time,” Henderson said.
Smith is also setting sail to take on the federal passport office regarding his picture on that document.
