States Grapple with Human Microchipping: Improved Medical Identification or MARK OF THE BEAST?!!11!

Yes, at least three states, California, Wisconsin and North Dakota, are so alarmed about the dangers posed by possible forced microchipping of people that they have banned the practice (or potential practice since it’s not actually happening anywhere). Five or six other states have debated the issue.

Microchipping, the practice of placing a small emitter under the skin, has been used for some time with pets. The chips are dormant until a scanning device is passed over them at which point they give off a number. When entered into a data base the number tracks down the last registered address of the pet’s owner. The point is obvious - lost pets often lose their collar tags (if they have them to begin with) so microchipping greatly increases the potential that the animals will be returned to their owner. In fact thousands of pets and owners have been reunited through this technique.

Trial applications of human microchipping have been around for the last decade or so on a voluntary basis. The intent is that the microchips would replace medical alert bracelets or necklaces worn by people who have serious or chronic medical conditions. In the event of an accident medical personnel responding would be alerted to the person’s underlying medical problems and could treat the patient accordingly. In fact, because the chips would hold much more information than could be transcribed onto the bracelets, they would be an even more valuable tool.

But religious fanatics have curious ways of looking at things. Especially if you’re big into the End Times. In that case everything that happens must be evaluated as a potential sign that the Times are near. Thus the idea of inserting a tiny microchip under one’s skin in order to alert medical professionals when you have been found unconscious that you are, say, a diabetic, is potentially the first step towards administering the Mark of the Beast.

10. TECHNOLOGY FOR THE MARK OF THE BEAST

Revelation 13:16-17 “And he causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves to be given a mark on their right hand or on their forehead, and he provides that no one will be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his name.”

On May 10, three members of a family in Florida became the first people to receive the biochip implant. Each device, made of silicon and called a VeriChip, is a small radio transmitter about the size of a piece of rice that is injected under a person’s skin. It transmits a unique personal ID number whenever it is within a few feet of a special receiver unit. VeriChip’s maker describes it as “a miniaturized, implantable, radio frequency identification device (RFID) that can be used in a variety of security, emergency and healthcare applications.”

Is the biochip the mark of the beast to be used by the antichrist? We can’t really know. What is significant is that people are being softened to the idea of a mark or an implant as a means of maintaining security, providing medical information, and regulating a more interdependent world. As attitudes change, fears subside, and people are convinced of the need for such a mark, the true mark of the beast will be easily introduced to the world by the antichrist.

Now, if this really was just the province of a few religious fanatics it would be one thing. But politicians are now passing laws against microchipping and citing their concerns that we’re helping along the Anti-Christ, as well as claiming that HHS and other government agencies are actively pushing this nefarious scheme.

I mean what’s up with this? This guy, for a fundie, at least seems to have the right point of view:

Many good expositors of Revelation differ widely as to the exact nature of the mark of the beast. Besides the implanted chip view, other speculations include an ID card, a microchip, a barcode that is tattooed into the skin, or simply a mark that identifies someone as being faithful to the Antichrist’s kingdom. This last view requires the least speculation, since it does not add any more information to what the Bible gives us. In other words, any of these things are possible, but at the same time they are all speculations. We should not spend a lot of time speculating on the precise details.

Exactly. Thank you. Spending valuable time to pass, or try and pass, unnecessary legislation to guard against phantom boogies and superstitious drivel is sure where our politicians need to spend their time these days. Not.

Posted by marindenver on 04/25/10 at 03:27 PM • Permalink

Categories: Politics • Health Care • Relijun •

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As attitudes change, fears subside, and people are convinced of the need for such a mark, the true mark of the beast will be easily introduced to the world by the antichrist.

When I was a young un many fundamentalists refused to own (or at least said they refused to own) credit cards because they were convinced credit card numbers were the modern equivalent of 666. Of course, now that credit cards are so ubiquitous and handy many of them have moved on to something else.

I assume the the advent of license plates and SSNs sparked the same hysteria.

Comment by Hunger Tallest Palin on 04/25/10 at 05:21 PM

A lot of this craziness comes in response to a rather unspectacular portion of the HCR bill that establishes a protocol for chipping implantable devices such as pacemakers, so that the machine’s make, model, history and owner can be quickly scanned from outside the patient’s body.

Naturally, every wingnut paranoid is reading a Big Brother takeover or a Biblical prophecy into something they’ll wish to God somebody had put in them when they’re gasping like a fish on the sidewalk, or get wheeled unconscious into an ER with no ID after they’re robbed or pulled out of a burning building. Assholes.

Comment by StrangeAppar8us on 04/25/10 at 05:35 PM

Marin, while I agree with your scorn of the fundamentalists I am dead set against any of this for a lot of political reasons. If you and/or your activities can be tracked it will be misused for political reasons, i.e. Hoover.

Call me a privacy freak, but you might look into:

-RFID in passports, which can be scanned without your knowledge.

-RealID, which has as a part of the specification the ability to read RFID in real time while you are in a car, with a granularity down to what your seat position is in the car.

-Real time facial recognition in public places.

-The NSA purchases credit card and frequent shopper data.

When I renewed my passport I nuked the RFID in the microwave.

Comment by justlen on 04/25/10 at 05:41 PM

Of course, all of this ignores the fact that DNA is God’s Own Microchip.

Comment by Tom65 on 04/25/10 at 06:35 PM

Len, I was working on a long response about how ubiquitous-but-easily-defeatable RFID and microchip technology are, and how a Black Market for spoofed ID code would eventually arise just as it has for SS#s and Drivers’ Licenses (the original “Beasts”), but Tom just reminded me that we’re doomed by our proteins anyway, so never mind.

My advice is to carry strips of other people’s flesh in your briefcase when you travel, just in case you need to cover your tracks on the fly.