A hell-fearing Christian fundamentalist farmer has mounted a constitutional challenge to prevent his driver's licence photo being placed in a central data bank.

George Bothwell told a packed press conference in Toronto on Wednesday that the Book of Revelations warns that any such use of an individual's image automatically aligns him with Satan.

"The Bible says that he who worships the beast or receives his image shall drink the wine of the wrath of God," Mr. Bothwell said, quoting several ominous-sounding passages by heart.

"That prophecy was written two millennia ago, when there was really no vocabulary to describe the technology that has come up on this," he said. "The God of the Bible wants individual freedom. This system enforces external control over people."

Mr. Bothwell's lawyer, Clayton Ruby, said the provision allows government bureaucrats too much leeway in deciding whether they find a person's religious beliefs to be sincere.

Far from being a fundamentalist flake, Mr. Ruby argued that his client is a deeply religious man who truly believes he will go to hell if the government stores his photograph in digital form.

Mr. Ruby said the theory is comparable to the beliefs of other fundamentalists.

"I don't think that anyone will dismiss him as a wingnut, because these views are widely held," he said.

Before 1997, provincial bureaucrats allowed Mr. Bothwell to have a Polaroid image attached to his licence. The licencing system then became digitalized, obliging Mr. Bothwell, 57, to renounce his driver's licence altogether.

According to a legal brief Mr. Ruby prepared for Ontario Superior Court, Mr. Bothwell's dilemma has severely constrained his ability to pursue his livelihood as a liquid manure spreader.

"Farming is a very challenging business," it says. "One needs to be very focussed on it to succeed. The stress he feels as a result of having to focus on the issues surrounding his driver's licence — which affect his eternal salvation — distract him and make it very difficult to run the farming operation."

The brief says that Mr. Bothwell — a father of eight — is in the position of having to choose between his religious beliefs and the ability to operate a motor vehicle.

"Because he lives in a rural area, the inability to drive greatly restricts his freedomGlobe and Mail