[ POLL ] Are RFID Microchips the "Mark of the Beast"?

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Source: This Alternet Article

What does a chip implant have to do with the Bible? Believers see echoes of RFID chips in a short passage in the Book of Revelation: "And the second beast required all people small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their forehead, so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark -- the name of the beast or the number of its name." -- The Book of the Revelation, 13:16-17

The cited article has more details, but tends to represent a skeptical point of view.

What's your opinion? Regardless of your answer, please explain in plain English vernacular what you believe and why you believe it. You may select only one option, but you may change that option at any time. Thank you.

No.

Elaborate, please?

I'm an atheist.

"Argument from Incredulity" -- fair enough.

I say it's because the "mark" is supposed to go ON the hand -- Like a tattoo or brand -- and not inside it.

Last edited by Fnord on 08 Apr 2019, 7:31 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I'm an atheist, too.

And also somewhat of a "privacy" advocate.

I don't want to be monitored. I don't like the idea of it.

As for the original question: I really haven't the foggiest notion.

I'm waiting for a Troo B'leever to come chugging in. Things should get interesting, then!

Of course it is. If you can't tell it's the mark of the beast then you just reject truth. I don't know enough about the Bible to fake this, have you actually read the bible Fnord? I tried too, I really struggled to get past the first story, it's written as a fantasy story that you would imagine people thought back in those days (which ever days they may be). The part about making birth extremely painful for women wasn't thought out well enough. When I read that bit it was pretty much just over, but I pressed on anyway. What hit my mind though is, so all female mammals got cursed with painful births because of a woman falling for a trick from the serpent? Reptiles do not have painful births and animals outside of man did nothing wrong. So why would all mammals be cursed with painful birth? Why did female reptiles escape the curse?

I don't like the idea of the chips though, just a way to enslave man and give government ultimate power over every life. I think it's pretty natural for corrupt government to try to extend its power over population and that is why people should always be careful about what abilities they grant government, and I think some of the authoritarians within government try to manufacture problems, make things worse, to give people the sense that they need to grant more authority to government so they can save us, fear tactics pretty much.

I hope you find your true believer to make the conversation interesting, I don't think there are too many heavy bible folks here.

You must be able to read good, I'm not sure how you could push through the bibble. I cannot do that kind of stuff, I have to be very interested in what I'm reading, if not I have to read every sentence a lot of times then will still forget most of what I read. If I'm really interested I can read it once and remember a good portion of it for a long time.

Ok - I'll be brave enough to put up my hand even though I said I never would. Before I start let me say I respect people's right to be an atheist or to have another faith and I have no desire to convince or convert anyone.

So I am a 'bible believing' Christian of about 3 decades now and have read the bible cover to cover including all the begats about 3 times and also read it and study the contents and meaning very frequently. With regards to the Book of Revelation let me first preface my little sermon (LOL) by saying that the bible has a few different styles: Poetry, Prophesy, Allegory and a record of events. Different books are written in these different contexts.

Revelation, believed to have been written by John while he was exiled on the island of Patmos is a prophetic vision, so (in my opinion) the talk of dragons and whores etc are allegorical or pictures in a vision. Likewise the bit about the 'mark of the beast' may not be an actual mark or a chip (or it could be) but it does represent late stage capitalism to me. To me it speaks of an attitude to money and trading that we have today. We love the convenience of a card that transacts for us and makes it easy to purchase stuff that we don't really need. Consumerism and a worship of money drives us.

For example, our (generalising of course) lives are centred around working out how we can make the most money possible to get the things we think we need because we are marketed to constantly. So Money becomes the god we serve, not actual God (for us that believe and the bible is written for believers in general). The idea that having a chip under our skin to prevent people stealing our money or identity is an attractive one in this society. In 99AD or whenever Revelation was written (it is understood that John was very very old) the concept of a society that we live in, complete with cars, computers and the stock exchange, would probably have been as bizarre as dragons and giant whores.

So that in brief is my understanding as a true blue bible banging believer. Of course there are many different understandings within Christendom, as there are on many many issues, hence the vast array of denominations. None of us can say with any certainty what it 'really' means, but I am content with my vague understanding - it makes sense to me.

PS I cant choose one of the choices as it is I think so but not sure.

I left out "Mostly Yes" and "Mostly No" because you either believe that the entire Bible is the complete and inerrant Word of God or you don't -- there should be no wavering on this, right?

Then there are those who believe that some parts are The Absolute Truth, while other parts are allegorical or metaphorical. Unfortunately, which parts are which seems to change depending on context, sect, and who is using the Bible to support his or her pet doctrines.

As for "RFID Chip -- Mark of the Beast", I'd like to see some solid supporting evidence either way.

Why not fingerprints (on the hand)? Why not retina or iris scans (on or near the forehead)? Why not facial recognition? Why aren't these cited as "Marks of the Beast"?

I don’t agree with your black and white approach, here Fnord. Are you in the camp of the complete and inerrant Word of God yourself? As I said previously there are parts that I believe are allegorical in the same way that Jesus uses parables. It is quite clear from the context that he is using allegory. Prophetic visions are also quite clear from the context, Daniels prophetic dreams for example use the term ‘weeks’ that can be understood as groups of 7 time periods, rather than groups os seven days (literal meaning). The different denominations do have different degrees of literalness, from say Anglican at one end of the spectrum to seventh Day Adventists at the other. I think I fall between the two extremes.

It does sound to me like you are wanting to only dialogue with a specific theological outlook and I am curious about that. I had hoped for a more interested response to my comments, as I am interested in what you might have to say.

A couple of years I made this very prediction myself here on WP. Except that I thought it was gonna be a retail UPC type bar code that they will tattoo onto your forehead, or onto your thumb, that they scan with a grocery store check out type laser gun everywhere you go- to keep track of you.

Scan you like you're a bag of Cheetos, and you're good to go with the authorities. And can go about engaging in commerce.

The man will persuade us all that we need it so he can protect us from terrorism. And there ya go.

This chip thing is just an even higher tech version of the same idea. Even better! Could be ...could be!

Considering transactions are now being made with mobile phones, and they are also marketing directly to us via our screens, it would make more sense for mobile phones to be 'the mark of the beast'.

All hooey.
If you're looking for a sign, you'll surely see one.

Confirmation bias.

I know people who see "signs" in everyday events that the rest of us may take for granted.

For instance, someone cuts me off in traffic, and I steer out of their way. Is this the "Hand of God" or my hands on the steering wheel?

Someone gets the flu, and their fever spikes to 103°F on the third day. A week later, they're over the flu and back to work. Miracle or natural event?

I'm sure you can think of others, so why would someone believe that an RFID chip in the hand simply MUST be something diabolical?

Confirmation Bias.

Ummm…

I think that that is exactly what Raleigh was saying. Folks looking for a sign will see one.

Yes, I'm just "confirming" his opinion.

But then, I could be biased.