statism watch

It would be simple to laugh at the theist in this case, as has been done to the Alberta Hutterites, who attempted to reject the new RFID-equipped drivers licenses. They were roundly, and this journal believes, unfairly mocked in the comment board of various news articles by the public, at least the part of the public that trolls the media’s comment boards. (This sort of treatment was what the Hutterites came to Canada to escape). But faith may simply be regarded as ideas, originally philosophic ideas, that have hardened into dogma – and Revelations, for all its apocalyptic symbolism, is simply a coded retelling of an ancient story of imperial aggression, dissent, and the desire for the good king’s return. (J.R.R. Tolkein’s masterpiece, written mostly during WWII, is on the same themes). So let’s look at the facts – with all of the biometric and tracking chip technology that’s being put in place alongside calls for a new electronic currency, is it really fair to blame these people if they fear they won’t be allowed to buy or sell without a ‘mark’? Note that the UK is implementing strict laws around childcare workers as well, and fingerprinting the children on top of it. Is this the correct approach – treating everyone like a criminal? Do we desire a state that, under the pretext of controlling every risk no matter how small, micromanages and tracks our lives?

Flashback: UK: Parents need license to play with children in public | Hutterite driver’s licence photo appeal rejected | UK: Now Big Brother targets helpful parents – 1 in 4 Britons vetted for giant new child protection database | Hutterites press fight vs. licence photos | Alberta Hutterites need enhanced driver’s licence photos: top court | US: REALID tracking chip ID card resurrected by PASS initiative | India to issue all 1.2 billion citizens with biometric ID cards | UK: Passport details to be kept on ID register despite card U-turn | Moratorium sought on RFID driver’s licenses | Has your child been CAFed? How the Government plans to record intimate information on every child in Britain | Do Swiss parents need a childrearing licence? | RFID passport security defeated in minutes | Saskatchewan adopting US-mandated ID card, to include RFID chip, facial recognition | Drivers licences with chips spark heated debate | UK Parents Need Government Permission to Kiss Children | Ontario Privacy Czar Worried about High-Tech Licences | North American ID card in the works through SPP

David Kravets, Wired.com
November 5, 2009

A 22-year veteran kindergarten teacher in the Texas Bible Belt could lose her job for refusing, on religious grounds, to give fingerprints under a state law requiring them.

The evangelical Christian, Pam McLaurin, is fighting a looming suspension, claiming that fingerprinting amounts to the “Mark of the Beast,” and hence is a violation of her First Amendment right to practice her religion. Her case is similar to a lawsuit by a group of Michigan farmers, some of them Amish, challenging rules requiring the tagging of livestock with RFID chips, saying the devices are also the devil’s mark.

The latest case is the first in which a teacher is refusing fingerprinting on religious grounds, the woman’s lawyer said. The U.S. Supreme Court has yet to decide whether the First Amendment is implicated in fingerprinting, especially at a time when states, local governments and civic organizations are increasingly making them mandatory for anyone wanting to drive a car or coach a youth basketball team.

McLaurin’s lawsuit against the Texas Education Agency cites various passages of Revelation, the final book of The Bible:

He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand and on their foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.… Then a third angel followed them saying with a loud voice — if anyone worships the beast and his image and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God.… He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.

Her attorney, Scott Skelton, said his client believes that the computerized fingerprinting, in which her fingerprints will be stored in a database, is the mark addressed in Revelation. The teacher does not believe that it is merely coincidence that Revelation says only those with the ‘mark on his forehead or on his hand’ will be able to buy or sell, since only those teachers who comply with fingerprinting requirements will keep their jobs, he said.

“This law prohibits the free exercise of her religion,” Skelton said in a telephone interview.

The Big Sandy Independent School District, where the woman teaches, is located about 100 miles northeast of Houston. Wayne Haglund, the school district’s lawyer, described McLaurin is a “valued member of the faculty and one of the best teachers we have.”

“The school district’s position is fully supportive of Mrs. McLaurin,” Haglund continued in a telephone interview. “We’re caught in the crossfire. We believe her religious beliefs are sincerely held.”

Haglund said the Texas Education Agency informed him it would deactivate her teacher certification if she does not comply. She has until Nov. 7, Skelton said.

Texas lawmakers approved the fingerprinting measure in 2007 in a bid, Skelton said, “to catch somebody with a criminal background or a history of preying on children.”

“She’s willing to undergo a background check,” Skelton said, “just not fingerprinting.”

Source | See also under Tracking: Aspiring government economists must reveal views on stimulus plan | EU urges use of tracking boxes for motorists | UK Police in £9m scheme to log ‘domestic extremists’ | U.S. Spies Buy Stake in Firm That Monitors Blogs, Tweets | Ottawa braces for own eHealth pain | UK: Home Office climbs down over keeping DNA records on innocent | Security boss calls for end to net anonymity | Hutterite driver’s licence photo appeal rejected | Interpol and U.N. Back ‘Global Policing Doctrine’ | UK: Pilot project for DNA, isotope analysis of immigrants ‘deeply flawed’ | Case for Internet spying not closed | Report: Massive FBI database set to quadruple in size | EU Plans Massive Surveillance Panopticon That Would Monitor “Abnormal Behavior” | UK: Police ‘must purge innocent DNA’ | UK: Now Big Brother targets helpful parents – 1 in 4 Britons vetted for giant new child protection database | Able Danger and DIA had advanced knowledge of 9/11 | Planned Internet, wireless surveillance laws worry watchdogs | Hutterites press fight vs. licence photos | UK Government plans to link criminal records to ID cards | UK Government to consider internet disconnection policy, restrictions | Privacy commissioner OKs Barwatch software | UK national ID card cloned in 12 minutes | UK ISPs condemn Internet surveillance plans | Alberta Hutterites need enhanced driver’s licence photos: top court | US: REALID tracking chip ID card resurrected by PASS initiative | US: Town on SF Bay wants to photograph every car | Facebook violates privacy law: watchdog | India to issue all 1.2 billion citizens with biometric ID cards | BC Bars swipe patron IDs, collect data | Newborn’s Blood Samples Raise Questions of Privacy | UK: Passport details to be kept on ID register despite card U-turn | Use of warrantless police wiretaps flies under the radar | US Cyber Security Czar Front-Runner No Friend of Privacy | UK: Shifting justifications for ID card scheme prompts call to scrap program | Incoming CSIS chief to seek biometric data at border | UK: Spy bugs may be deployed for 2012 Olympics | UK: Police ‘arrest innocent youths for their DNA’, officer claims | New border rules create ‘invisible Berlin Wall’: mayor | UK: Fury as Commons denied vote on DNA database | Digital Money Forum Pushes For Electronic Currency | UK installing license plate scanning network | Toronto police board challenges chief on CCTV deterrence, demands ‘phase-in’ | Google PowerMeter to track home energy usage in Toronto test drive | Tories propose law allowing fingerprinting before charges are laid | Next up for France: police keyloggers and Web censorship | Clinton defends new border restrictions | Saudi files for ‘killer’ tracking chip patent | ‘Smart meters’ set to boost prices, track your power consumption by time of day in Toronto | Ontario’s high-tech driver’s licences pose privacy risk: watchdog | France passes ‘three strikes’ Internet surveillance law | SMS texts being data mined in France: Man strip searched, held after joke | UK Home Secretary has secret plan to surveil, ‘Master the Internet’ | UK: Police to destroy DNA profiles of 800,000 innocent people | UK wants industry to track Internet users as plans scrapped for state database | Australian nightclub installs face-scanning security system | UK: Children to be tracked by sat nav to stop bad behaviour | Alberta bars could collect names, photos under proposed bill | UK: DNA pioneer Alec Jeffreys: drop innocent from database | Microchip in a pill to monitor your meds | French legislators reject internet piracy bill | Following Bush lead, Obama moves to block challenge to wiretapping program | UK: Big Brother row as police start using camera cars to fine wayward drivers | Big Brother is watching: surveillance box to track drivers is backed | Britain may snoop on social websites | Moratorium sought on RFID driver’s licenses | Right to privacy broken by a quarter of UK’s public databases, says report | Smart licences now available for border-hopping Quebecers | Internet ad tracking system will put a ’spy camera’ in the homes of millions, warns founder of the web | NSA Dominance of Cybersecurity Would Lead to ‘Grave Peril’, Ex-Cyber Chief Tells Congress | French government accused of ‘Big Brother’ tactics over internet piracy | US Terrorist watch list hits 1 million | NY Times: Mileage Tax Would ‘Track Where Motorists Have Been’ | UK police maintain databank on thousands of protesters | UK: Government plans to keep DNA samples of innocent | UK: DNA details of 1.1m children on database | UK security whitepaper urges ‘end of privacy’ | US Bill proposes ISPs, Wi-Fi keep logs for police | The Spy Factory: The New Thought Police | New law to give police access to online exchanges | Google to enter market for energy use tracking | Electronic immunization records needed: Toronto health official | Controversial US measure would require DNA sampling at arrest | UK-Irish travellers to face passport checks | U.S. visitors now required to register online with Department of Homeland Security | GPS wristwatch helps parents track children | UK: Face scanners to be installed in schools | Regulator will force cellphone companies to adopt GPS tracking system | Military challenge: Make spy data more accessible | UK: ‘Spy-in-sky’ trials get the go-ahead despite Government promise to scrap road-pricing plan | Private firm may administer UK surveillance database | Calls for GPS-tracked ’speed-limiting’ cars in UK | Oregon Governor Wants GPS-Tracked Vehicle Mileage Tax | UK Culture secretary wants international age restrictions for web | Is road-tolls fix running out of gas? | Has your child been CAFed? How the Government plans to record intimate information on every child in Britain | Cyberbullying verdict turns rule-breakers into criminals | European court rules DNA database breaches human rights | London musicians expected to disclose ethnicity, 8 pages of personal information to perform | Myspace terms of use could become fulcrum for destruction of online anonymity in precedent setting case | Former US congresswoman, presidential candidate Cynthia McKinney barred from boarding plane to human rights conference | Retired B.C. woman surprised to find herself on international no-fly list | Indonesian AIDS patients face microchip monitoring | Tribunal shouldn’t police online hate, report says | Jim Flaherty Urging Greater Federal, International Control over Canadian economy | Road tolls called ‘inevitable’ | Coming soon to your cellphone: Your credit card via RFID chip | Federal government stages another retreat on road tolls | Federal Road Toll Meeting Sponsorship Kept Quiet Until After Election | Flaherty calls for mandatory IMF surveillance | UK Home Secretary: People ‘can’t wait’ for biometric ID cards | ‘Smart’ Credit Cards, Pilot Project set the Groundwork for Wireless Credit Wallets | Google’s growth makes privacy advocates wary | Parents, children to be fingerprinted at initial 250+ nursery schools in UK | Police will use new device to take fingerprints in street, vendors say face scanning next | US military targets social nets | UK Shortly to Become Worse Surveillance Society than Stasi East Germany | UK Security services want personal data from sites like Facebook | Software blocks car phone users | Big brother to track all emails, internet history and telephone calls under UK plan | New surveillance program will turn military satellites on US | Mobile phones to track carbon footprint using GPS | Metrolinx considering road to lls after all | Red light cameras not going up fast enough for Toronto budget | First it’s ‘For the Children’: Microsoft working to ID you online | Global ‘Intelligent Transport’ initiative comes to your cellphone: Location data used to track traffic flow | GPS Mapping Systems Enable Police Tracking | Texas truant students to be tracked by GPS anklets | Satellites track Mexico kidnap victims with implanted chips | Security officials to scan D.C. area license plates | How Big Brother watches your every move | Federal parolees to wear tracking anklets in pilot project | Scots schoolchildren to be fingerprinted in controversial ID scheme | Beijing Taxis Are Bugged ‘For Driver Safety’ | Saskatchewan adopting US-mandated ID card, to include RFID chip, facial recognition | UK DNA database turns ‘innocents into criminals’, warns watchdog | Eye scans, fingerprints to control NZ borders | Drivers licences with chips spark heated debate | Behavioral Targeting: ‘It’s Only Going to Get Creepier’ | Bluetooth is watching: secret study gives Bath a flavour of Big Brother | Britain considers giant database of all phone calls, EMails, browsing history | Bush approves surveillance bill | Mobile Phone Users Secretly Tracked for Behaviorist Study | Every adult in Britain should be forced to carry ‘carbon ration cards’, say MPs | Criticism for ‘UK database’ plan | Pay-As-You-Drive Car Insurance | Metrolinx Proposes Satellite Vehicle Tracking for Road Tolls | Canada on way to brave new world of surveillance | West Virginia: Bill Turns Traffic Cameras into Spy Cameras | Toronto part of ‘transnational mega-region’ | Vancouver to import road tolls from UK | UK proposes national road tolls to cut congestion | Motorists to pay London toll | Government moving to access personal info, sparking privacy fears | Give public biometrics the finger

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 5th, 2009 at 7:13 pm and is filed under culture, privacy, prohibitions. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.