It is unlikely that anyone, in the UK at least, is unaware of the government's plans to instate a National Identity Card and Register. For background reading take a look at the pro- camp at http://www.ips.gov.uk/identity/ and the anti- camp at http://www.no2id.net/ This article deliberately takes no side in the debate, leaving each person to make up their own mind.
Whether you are in favour or not (and Druids can be found in both camps) there is a lot of media hype and confusion - some no doubt deliberately fostered - and it is hard to know exactly what is being planned and when. Recently, the Identity and Passport Service held some consultation meetings with "stakeholders" and The Druid Network was invited as a "community faith group" at the Newport event where we were able to put questions to Meg Hillier, the minister for the scheme.
Religion
One of the main reasons TDN took part was the confusion regarding the use of religion or religious affiliation or faith or lack of same on the Card or Register. It was clearly stated at the meeting that there is no use of those terms or similar category on the Card or in the National ID Register database. The ID Card does, however, precisely validate a person's identity within the many discrete government databases already in existence and makes it easier to extract individual data. It was made clear however that no agency would have any more access to those databases than they had already and "data mining" was not the intent of the scheme.
Perhaps it is best now to direct you to the official FAQ's - and of course the opposing FAQ's - rather than try to interpret the government's words here. The subject is being discussed in the Member's Forums
