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….
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….Texas lawmakers approved the fingerprinting measure in 2007 in a bid, [McLaurin's attorney Scott] 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."
I'm on the teacher's side, of course, but I think her theology is shaky here. Everyone knows the Mark of the Beast is a UPC symbol, not a fingerprint.
