February 25, 2010

In this post 9/11 world we live in, documented identity has become a central piece in the fight against terrorism. At the same time, the increasingly complex web of electronic information sharing, be it personal or business, has raised the issue of identity theft to new heights. Documented identity is supposed to prove you are who you say you are via birth certificate, marriage certificate, etc. Documented identity was recently ratcheted up a notch with the requirement of a passport to enter Canada. While you must now have a physical document in your hand to enter Canada (assuring border authorities you are who you say you are), at the same time our identity is seeping out, bit by bit, into an expanding pool of electronic based information. I order seeds. The seed house asks for my credit card no. I give it to them. A piece has seeped into the pool. I choose the paperless route to pay the gas bill. My address is required, a phone number, banking account codes...more bits leaked into the pool. Apparently, there are hackers who, like fishermen, are skilled at pulling out a bit from this pool and this is called identity theft. Unlike documented identity, this notion of identity is really just about numbers.

Reducing personal identity to a document or number(s) is essentially a de-humanizing act. It is an example of the triumph of sight over word. "I can't trust who you SAY you are but I can trust what I SEE that tells me who you are." Another way of saying it is : seeing is believing. Biblically, to SEE God is to die. Images of God are strictly forbidden. We approach God and are approached by God through word(s). I don't know where all this leads on this mild late February afternoon except to say that the triumph of image (sight) over word in our culture must have repercussions beyond having to show a document to get into Canada...