We’re all accustomed to the DMV – waiting in line, filling out endless forms, the people in line who can’t seem to read the signs and obey the rules, the curt employees…and the really, really, really bad photos that always seem to end up on our state-issued IDs. It seems that they’re an inevitable part of life – birth, death, taxes and the crummy license photo.
Mennonites, the conservative religious sect of Christianity popular in the Midwest, have never had to suffer the wrath of the DMV camera. Their belief that the drivers’ license portrait represents a graven image granted them a long-standing religious exemption from photo ID for many years in many of the Midwestern states where they made their homes.
For years, Mennonites have thrived living their traditional lifestyles in rural areas. However, a recently adopted law in Missouri is threatening to change this. In an attempt to make their state licensing program adhere to the REAL ID act, Missouri has lifted the religious exemption that allowed Mennonites and other religious sects who believed strongly in the "graven image" to have drivers licenses without a photo. This abrupt change and cessation of an important exemption has left many Mennonites wondering what to do. Many rural Missouri communities are planning on moving to Arkansas, a state which still provides an exemption from drivers license photos for those whose religious beliefs forbid it.
Increases in identity theft and a desire to prevent terrorist attacks have driven the federal government, along with many states, to require pictures on drivers licenses – no exception. Their claim is that the crimes and danger prevented by having the photos on the license overshadows the religious infringement that takes place. But is a photo the only sure way to guarantee security? There are many other advanced forms of identification that could possible serve the same identifying purposes as a photo. Take biometrics for example – a fingerprint could serve as an accurate form of identification. In fact, it may be even more accurate than a photo. Appearances can be imitated, but fingerprints are unique.
The Mennonites, like all of us, are at the crossroads of tradition and security. Will they choose to accept the new policy and join the ranks of the photo ID carrying? Or will they hold on to their traditions and withdraw further from society? It all hinges on a simple photo.