'Flying Spaghetti Monster' church told no advertising

[August 03, 2017]    BERLIN (Reuters) - The anti-religion Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster can be banned from advertising its services on the outskirts of town, a German state court ruled on Wednesday.

The Brandenburg court rejected an appeal filed by the group, which criticizes religion as intolerant and has amassed followers worldwide, against an earlier ruling last year.

"The suing party can be seen as neither a religious community nor a community with a common world view," the court said in a statement.

German churches often advertise services at the entrance to a town, and the Spaghetti Monster group had sought permission to do that same in the town northeast of Berlin.

(This story was refiled to fix typo in first paragraph)

(Reporting by Andrea Shalal; Editing by Maria Sheahan/Jeremy Gaunt)

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