A while back, I railed against a Muslim woman objecting to having to have her Florida drivers license include an unveiled photo of her face. Her argument was that it was a violation of her religious beliefs. My counter-argument was that if she wanted a photo ID issued by the state that allowed for personal verification of identity (with the rights and privileges appertaining thereto), she needed to suck
it up and allow it. Sorry, but photo IDs seem a worthwhile social good (fake ones notwithstanding).
So, just to show that this wasn’t a nasty anti-Islamic stance, I feel exactly the same way about this Amish complaint.
An Amish couple living in Pennsylvania has filed a lawsuit charging the Department of Homeland Security and immigration officials with religious discrimination. The suit contends the requirement that the Canadian man and his American wife be photographed in order for him to become a permanent U.S. resident is unconstitutional, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.
Members of the Old Order Amish believe being photographed is a sin because the Old Testament forbids graven images.
I’m sorry if this causes personal distress, but having a photographic record of someone seeking residency in the country does not seem unreasonable to me. I won’t debate the religious aspect of this (the particular commandment involved seems pretty clearly intended to prohibit grave images for the purpose of worship, not in general), but I really don’t believe that a religious dictate is
being specifically targeted here, nor that there is a reasonable accommodation that the government could make that would get around the reasonably compelling need to have a photographic record of a new entry to the country.