Orthodixie
“Today’s Herod would seek the baby Jesus to implant a computer chip somewhere deep under his skin as the mark of that beast that, in poet William Butler Yeats’ phrase, “its hour come round at last, Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born.”
On December 17, 2004, President Bush signed into law measures that gaurantee a National ID system. With the overwhelming coverage of the horrendous tragedy in Southern Asia, I totally missed this news item — though there was some coverage.
However, some of the coverage may have been less than full disclosure:
“What Reuters doesn’t mention is the section of the bill that would drastically overhaul each state’s driver’s license regulation. According to [Sec. 7212] Driver’s Licenses and identification cards., the minimum requirements of a federally approved identification card would “subject each person applying for a driver’s license or identification card to mandatory facial image capture.” The bill doesn’t specify what portion of the face, so this could be an entire facial scan, or a retinal scan. The biometric data would be saved on the card, as well as in a database, so that the card holder could be verified at a later time.”
“The new generation of ID cards must be able to digitally store biometric data such as facial photographs and fingerprint images, bear contact and contactless interfaces, and allow the encryption of data that can be used to electronically verify the user’s identity, according to NIST draft standards.”
Yes. At least some think so. (Thanks to Slightly Rough.) Though I’ve read that William F. Buckley sees no harm in such measures, the Cato Institute opposed it in 2001.
“A national I.D. is coming soon, perhaps disguised as your state driver’s license but carrying a unique code such as your Social Security number. It may in the beginning even be “voluntary,” like the airline traveler I.D. that will permit you to bypass the two-hour inspection lines at airports but soon those refusing to submit to this carding process will be suspect and surveiled. Within a decade, the national I.D. card will also be your United Nations I.D. card.”
The purpose of the measure is, alledgedly, to combat terrorism. For example, unless you are registered in the National ID system you will not be able to board a plane. These measures may be in place as early as the end of this year (2005). The bill also allows sharing of this information from state to state.
Britain’s House of Commons passed a similar measure a few days later, December 20, 2004.
“The Government and Opposition have joined forces to back the world’s most far-reaching and comprehensive identity measures. The Identity Cards Bill passed its Second Reading in the lower house on 20 December despite widespread and passionate opposition from almost 100 rebel MP’s. A national campaign www.no2id.net chaired by Privacy International’s director has vowed to stop the plans. The legislation must pass through the House of Lords before it becomes law. Political observers believe the proposals will meet stiff opposition there. See our ID card page for coverage of ID cards around the world and in the United Kingdom.
One could assume that, given other countries’ participation in similar programs, this National ID system — or, for all intents and purposes, ID Card — will actually have international uses (FAQ.) Hitting some of the links listed in this blog post would lead one to believe the info would be shared among “friendly nations.”
Such programs are already in place in Thailand:
“In one of the most ambitious Java-based smart card deployment schemes in the world, the Thai government plans to issue the high-tech national ID card to all 61 million citizens. The card will contain biometric identification, as well as insurance, tax and welfare benefit information. The scheme is expected to be launched later this year.”
Is it the Mark of the Beast, 666, yada yada yada? I don’t know. Similar measures were debated in Russia (March, 2001) when they introduced their tax ID number (INN). At that time the Russian Orthodox Patriarch Alexei said:
“that the fear of INN had, like the fear of the ecumenical movement, been encouraged by those who wanted to push the Russian Orthodox Church into isolation.”
“In his message to be read on Sunday, the Russian Patriarch reminds Christians that neither salvation nor spiritual death can occur simply “for some external reason, without our personal participation.”
But he promised that the church would continue to monitor technological developments which could hinder individual freedom.”
The Greek Orthdoox clergy went nuts over the ID system introduced in Greece for a different reason. The government had decided to drop the ID designation of one’s religious preference. This was due in large measure to pressure from Jews and Muslims. The GOC strongly objected.
For Romanians — and here’s an idea for American Liberals — the National ID Cards played a role in the recent election.
“To prevent multiple voting, the CEC required a stamped sticker recording the fact that a person had voted to be attached to the rear-side of Romanian citizens laminated ID cards, which were required to identify a voter. This precaution was far from infallible.”
Yet, here in America, one would think there would be great opposition to the ID Card by its Evangelical President and the great host of “Left-Behinders.” Not so. Yet.
For those interested, particularly Federal Employees …
“On Jan. 19, the agency will hold a public meeting at the Potomac Center Plaza in downtown Washington to discuss policy, privacy and security concerns associated with the development of the new ID card standard.”
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