Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe POMFRET, N.Y., Jan. 8 (UPI) -- A town councilor in New York who wore a pasta colander on his head when he took the oath of office said it was a statement about religious freedom. Christopher Schaeffer, who donned the kitchen utensil when he took the oath of office as a Pomfret Town Council member Tuesday afternoon, said he is a minister in the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, a tongue-in-cheek group opposed to the teaching of intelligent design and creationism in public schools, the (Dunkirk) Observer reported Wednesday. Advertisement "It's just a statement about religious freedom," he said. "It's a religion without any dogma." Schaeffer said several church members, who are called Pastafarians, were arrested at a Russian parade last summer on charges of organizing an unsanctioned rally because they "offended the Orthodox Church." "Somebody called the cops, and the cops came and arrested them," he said.
