Mennonites plan to move over photo IDs
Missouri now requires picture driver's licenses, so Arkansas looks inviting
HUNTSVILLE, Mo. - The grocer, the butcher, a cabinet maker and several other members of the town’s Mennonite community are planning to move to Arkansas over a Missouri requirement that all drivers be photographed if they want a license.
The Mennonites — a plain-living sect whose members are similar to the Amish, but usually more worldly — say the 2004 law conflicts with the Biblical prohibition against the making of “graven images.”
“We want to respect our government. We’re not trying to fight them. But we still have our beliefs,” said Ervin Kropf, a bearded, overall-wearing grocer whose market draws customers from miles around for the fresh milk, brown eggs and spices supplied by his fellow Mennonites.
...snip
Around Huntsville, community members say more than a dozen families altogether are preparing to move south to Arkansas, where state law offers a religious exemption to the photo requirement. Other Mennonite enclaves near Rolla, Springfield and Vandalia are facing a similar dilemma.
Missouri had an exemption similar to Arkansas’ for more than 30 years. That changed in the security crackdown after Sept. 11. Now, those who object to the photo requirement can have their pictures left off their licenses. But the photos must remain on file with the state.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17725931/This is from March but is the first I recall hearing of it...
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