Skeptiholic

And according to this article its the DMV. Apparently enough people in West Virginia are worried that digital pictures are a “mark of the beast”. First of all this is just ridiculous. We are not talking about a small town, we are talking about the ENTIRE STATE of West Virginia.

The core issue however is does this qualify as a violation of Separation of Church and State or is it protecting peoples right to practice their religion. This is a question we face all to often in the skeptical movement. It is a question we face right now with the FLDS. Does religious freedom include the right to molest and trade children. I think the answer there is pretty clear, but what about people who just don’t want pictures on their licenses because they fear it is the “mark of the beast”. This doesn’t harm anybody directly, but what if West Virginia decided to stop producing licenses with pictures on them at all. It isn’t a big leap. It might not seem like a big deal, but not having a picture license can really be an inconvenience. Imagine a parent who wouldn’t allow their child to get a picture license, they wouldn’t even be able to go see an R-rated movie or anything else an 18 year old could do. In the end this shouldn’t be a big deal, but that doesn’t mean we should treat it as such.