666 chip? Why a Texas student thinks her school ID is the "Mark of the Beast"

The theology behind a battle over RFID tags.

Read the whole story

 

[bigcraig01]

There are multiple reasons for it's accuracy but I'm going to share my personal one... It's the one most people are ready to discard because their all-knowing logic tells them so... And since I don't go with the flow per

James 4:5 "Ye adulterers and adulteresses (aka seeking after the things of this world instead of the things of God, not sexual) know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God." which is why God destroyed Babylon which keeps trying to pull a phoenix out of its rear and rise up out of the ashes...

And Proverbs 14:12 "There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. " which is why most people will fall for the anti-christ hook, line and sinker... He doesn't have to be bad to be evil... He just has to appeal to man's "if it feels good, do it" mentality... If the same Jesus that walked the shores of Galilee showed up today people would try to throw him up on a cross again or worse and Jesus knew this... John 5:4 "I am come in my Father's name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive."

God's the same yesterday, today and tomorrow and he does not change... The cross brought a bit more grace but only to those that humble themselves (aka submit their resignation as master of the known unvierse) before him... But no... Man keeps saying he can do it like the little-engine that could and God just keeps shaking his head saying "Nope! Not without me..." and man doesn't care...

You ever hear the phrase "God helps those who help themselves?" Not true... God helps those who come to the end of themselves... and their "all-knowing" logic...

Romans 1:17 "For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith." Seeing isn't believing... Believing is seeing... You wanna live by 5 senses faith, you're gonna love the Anti-Christ... He'll nourish every sense you have... Yeshua says don't trust this world... Truth in my word...

 

[AlRaj]

I understand the Beast in Revelations is Rome. The seven heads of the beast are the seven hills of Rome. The 10 horns were representative of the client kings the Romans left in place to rule their conquered lands.

 

[Shavano]

What I Don't Understand is...

1. If the school is putting the Mark of the Beast on kids, then obviously they must be in league with the Antichrist. If you think the school is in league with the Antichrist, why on Earth would you let your kid go there?

2. Why is the district being so f***ing stupid? If the parents don't want their kid to wear a chipped identity badge, make her an unchipped badge. Make the parents sign a form that says she can wear an unchipped badge but that since the school's primary means of taking attendance is by using the chips in the badges, she will have to go to the attendance office each day to sign in so she can be counted for tax purposes. If she doesn't sign in, she will be marked absent, whether she was really there or not. If she's marked absent too many times, the parents may be charged for truancy.

 

[Shavano]

Let me ask a simple question: Is it reasonable for a public school to require the kids to eat pork or eat meat? Even if their religion prohibits it? Most people seem to think that dietary restrictions based upon religion is fine, but then have an issue when someone doesn't want an embedded chip put into their bodies...

Let me stop you right there. Nobody is proposing putting any chips in schoolchildrens' bodies.

It's on a BADGE that they carry on a lanyard.

You're entitled to your own version of your religious beliefs. You're not entitled to misrepresent the facts.

 

[Shavano]

There are multiple reasons for it's accuracy but I'm going to share my personal one... It's the one most people are ready to discard because their all-knowing logic tells them so... And since I don't go with the flow per

It's the one most people are ready to discard because it's translated from late Hebrew and Greek sources when earlier, more reliable sources were available.

It also ignores the standard Hebrew understandings of the text to insert Christian reinterpretations of the original scriptures. (Virtually all Christian translations of Hebrew scripture make that mistake.) Also, the Greek NT is translated with a specific theology in mind. That's also a shortcoming of most other translations. It would be interesting to see the differences that would be found if the NT were translated by someone not steeped in Christian theology, including trinitarianism and the presumption that Jesus was the Son of God but only in non-Christian Koine Greek.

It's also widely ignored because the English it's translated into so is archaic that's difficult for modern readers. The meanings of many words have changed in the last 400 years. Even with modernized spelling, it's not as easy to read as any of the 20th-century translations.

 

[JohnnyTheGeek]

Some times people fall back on a religious reason just because they don't want to do something. I agree, make her a tag without the chip and have her sign in manually. Have her parents sign a waiver to protect the school.

 

[JohnnyTheGeek]

So we can't say prayers in school anymore or have reference to god in school. But Parents and kids can fall back on a religious belief? Folks you can't pick and choose religious exclusion. Rules are rules.

 

[mikiev]

My whole problem with this "Mark of the Beast" crud is that it is the -SECOND- beast which imposes the mark...

So, where are the Dragon and the first Beast?

How have we missed -their- arrival, let alone the arrival of the second?

 

[AceRimmer]

What I Don't Understand is...

1. If the school is putting the Mark of the Beast on kids, then obviously they must be in league with the Antichrist. If you think the school is in league with the Antichrist, why on Earth would you let your kid go there?

2. Why is the district being so f***ing stupid? If the parents don't want their kid to wear a chipped identity badge, make her an unchipped badge. Make the parents sign a form that says she can wear an unchipped badge but that since the school's primary means of taking attendance is by using the chips in the badges, she will have to go to the attendance office each day to sign in so she can be counted for tax purposes. If she doesn't sign in, she will be marked absent, whether she was really there or not. If she's marked absent too many times, the parents may be charged for truancy.

I believe the school did offer to allow the student to wear an unchipped badge. The parents apparently think an unchipped badge could be the Mark of the Beast and they aren't taking any chances

The article I read also said that the chipped badges are used for other things besides taking attendance such as buying lunch at the cafeteria.

 

[GhostRed]

I think this article takes a stance right from the start, at the headline, that this is a joke...

very perceptive

This article, and many of the comments as well, seem to mock this idea as though this person is over-reacting and/or suggest that this family is a bunch of demon-fearing bible thumpers with no reasonable stance on rights.

Religion aside...

Religion cannot be put aside as they made it the basis for their argument, not privacy concerns which would have been appropriate and understandable.

I commend these people for having the balls to stand up for their rights.

What rights? The right not to be 'marked by the beast'?

1) Thanks for changing my comment, but I still argue that this is a biased article and takes the stance that these people don't have a legitimate argument. Laughing at the Constitution is not cool, Ars.

2) Had you paid attention to my comment, you would understand that I was trying to say that they *MAY HAVE* chosen to address this as a freedom of religion violation because of the difficulty in getting a reasonable outcome when addressing it as a rights violation. That said, religion aside or not, freedom of religion IS a right, and there are many other constitutional protections against things like forced tracking (RFID).

3) Are you serious? What rights? Freedom of Religion, Freedom of Speech come to mind. How about you review the Fourteenth Amendment:

http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/GPO-CONAN- ... -10-15.pdf

.... and maybe the rest of the Bill of Rights as well as reading the Constitution for once?


You may not agree with these people, but my original point is just: don't mock people for standing up for their rights.

There is a reason there are so many amendments to the Constitution and Bill of Rights and so many cases arguing violations of peoples' rights; there are many ways to interpret them.

Schools have been forced to accommodate religion previously, such things as wearing traditional clothing, practicing prayer, etc. There's no reason to think that being forced to be electronically tracked should be any different, nor should you guys be so quick to accept such a thing or mock anyone for fighting against these violations.

 

[Titanium Dragon]

2. Why is the district being so f***ing stupid? If the parents don't want their kid to wear a chipped identity badge, make her an unchipped badge. Make the parents sign a form that says she can wear an unchipped badge but that since the school's primary means of taking attendance is by using the chips in the badges, she will have to go to the attendance office each day to sign in so she can be counted for tax purposes. If she doesn't sign in, she will be marked absent, whether she was really there or not. If she's marked absent too many times, the parents may be charged for truancy.

The district isn't. They made this offer. The parents refused it.

The parents are, quite clearly, lunatics or trying to make a point.

So we can't say prayers in school anymore or have reference to god in school. But Parents and kids can fall back on a religious belief? Folks you can't pick and choose religious exclusion. Rules are rules.

Uh, what?

Seriously, don't believe what the crazy fanatics who are of the same cut of people as those who blow up buildings and fight over the holy land have to say.

You most certainly are allowed to pray in school. What is not allowed is:

1) The school promoting religion of any sort. This is illegal. Period.

2) Any sort of activity that would be construed as the school promoting religion. This includes religious iconography put up by staff or encouraged by staff, teacher-led prayer, prayers by students that coerce other students into praying/interrupt class time, ect.

So, where are the Dragon and the first Beast?

Yo.

You may not agree with these people, but my original point is just: don't mock people for standing up for their rights.

We're mocking them for being insane fanatics who are either trying to make a point or who are just plain old crazy.

Its fine to mock people for having crazy religious beliefs. Remember that first amendment?

No, clearly you've already forgotten it.

Call a rake a rake.

There is a reason there are so many amendments to the Constitution and Bill of Rights and so many cases arguing violations of peoples' rights; there are many ways to interpret them.

Uh, no. There are VERY few Amendments to the Constitution. In over 200 years, we've changed it a whopping 18 times (the first 10 amendments were accepted simultaneously), and of those, 8 of them were basically administrative matters. There have been a mere 20 amendments to the constitution that were rights based, on 10 different occasions, and fully half of them happened in the 1700s.

We don't change it very often, and the last time the Constitution was meaningfully changed was 1971 - 40 years ago.

Schools have been forced to accommodate religion previously, such things as wearing traditional clothing, practicing prayer, etc. There's no reason to think that being forced to be electronically tracked should be any different, nor should you guys be so quick to accept such a thing or mock anyone for fighting against these violations.

Its pretty clear that these people are insane. Beyond it obviously not being the mark of the beast, they rejected a compromise without the RFID tag, which suggests the obvious - that they're just being idiots.

 

[AreWeThereYeti]

Here is a total misunderstanding of what the mark of the beast is. For one thing it is not any physical thing. It is an idea. A belief. Something that takes the place of God. Now the placement of the mark has significance also. It will be in the hand or forehead. If it is in the hand the person will except because of the consequence if it is not accepted and therefore will submit to its requirement. In the forehead means that the person agrees with the mark (what ever it is) and fully support it.
When the mark come those who receive will not realize that they have it even though the consequence of not receiving it will be caused to be put to death.

Gee, you certainly have a lot of certainty about this. Where does that certainty come from? Do you believe the Bible is *literally* true, or not?

If you think it is literal, then you are contradicting yourself, since everything you just said is *not* literally in the Bible, it is a metaphorical interpretation of it, which literalists believe is incorrect.

On the other hand, if you don't believe the Bible is literally correct, then it must be interpreted metaphorically, which is obviously going to lead to people having different interpretations, and not being so certain about them.

So your certainty is unsupportable.

 

[Steve2112]

When the heck is humanity going to realize there is no god(s)? So many wars, so much suppression of science, so much torture and murder in the name of god or allah.

 

[Deleted member 192806]

When the heck is humanity going to realize there is no god(s)? So many wars, so much suppression of science, so much torture and murder in the name of god or allah.

So much of all that without religion too. Maybe the lesson in all that is stop trying to find something to blame, and start fixing things.

 

[garza]

I'm assuming she is also refusing to get her drivers license, as it also is, "an individual's acceptance of a certain code, identified with his or her person, as a pass conferring certain privileges from a secular ruling authority"

AND Texas driver's licenses also have a barcode.

 

[Jancarius]

Has anyone considered that this is in fact a probably a privacy lawsuit being shielded under a First Amendment lawsuit because of the different legal status of minors? Personally, that would be my choice about how to go about it.

 

[shiftybugger]

Brilliant article.

When I saw the headline, I had grave doubts. It is very difficult to explain this to someone who has not had the misfortune of having been brought up believing this. I was brought up in a subset of fundamentalist evangelical christendom which focussed on eschatology (the study of the end times). We defined other Christian denominations, not by the usual doctrines, but by their eschatological beliefs. Pre-Mil, Pre-Trib FTW!

Thief in the Night, A Distant Thunder, and the third one (which I wasn't allowed to watch too often as it was 'too commercial') were a staple part of my video consumption as a child. I cannot count the number of times I saw them from the age of 8 up. Guillotines still disturb me more than they should.

My best friend's dad toured the country as the head of a ministry (The Herald of Hope) solely devoted to the message that Christ (and the rapture/tribulation/Armageddon) is coming. He used to say he had 100% faith that Christ would return in his lifetime.

Despite the lack of this background, the author has explained the issues much more succinctly than I could have hoped to. Bravo.

Look, I'm a christian, I believe in God, and I think this bint needs to be hit with a clue stick.

Revelations...

A hard-to-kick pet peeve, and my pre-enlightenment self taking over, but either your aren't a christian or you haven't bothered to read the text on which your claimed faith is based. If you had, you'd know there is no book in the bible called Revelations.

 

[lorinkundert]

There can't be any religious basis since Revelation is specific as to how that mark will be used which is on the hand or forehead. Privacy on the other hand is an issue.

 

[Shavano]

The Mark in the story image is on the left hand. Deliberate?

Probably. Everyone knows that left handed people are the third most evil people in the world.

They're very sinister.

It's just not right.

 

[Shavano]

What I Don't Understand is...

1. If the school is putting the Mark of the Beast on kids, then obviously they must be in league with the Antichrist. If you think the school is in league with the Antichrist, why on Earth would you let your kid go there?

2. Why is the district being so f***ing stupid? If the parents don't want their kid to wear a chipped identity badge, make her an unchipped badge. Make the parents sign a form that says she can wear an unchipped badge but that since the school's primary means of taking attendance is by using the chips in the badges, she will have to go to the attendance office each day to sign in so she can be counted for tax purposes. If she doesn't sign in, she will be marked absent, whether she was really there or not. If she's marked absent too many times, the parents may be charged for truancy.

I believe the school did offer to allow the student to wear an unchipped badge. The parents apparently think an unchipped badge could be the Mark of the Beast and they aren't taking any chances

The article I read also said that the chipped badges are used for other things besides taking attendance such as buying lunch at the cafeteria.

So that's another thing they can opt out of for their daughter. Why would she want to eat the Antichrist's lunch?

Wait a minute... do these parents carry Social Security cards and have Texas Drivers' Licenses?

 

[Mark_oo]

... Watch The Amazing Spiderman... You know everything Dr. Connors (Who turned into a reptile... Gee, what was Satan portrayed as? A serpent/snake/reptile...) kept talking about... Yeah that! "The Mark" is gonna promise that... And like what happened to Dr. Connors, it's gonna back-fire...

Eschatological exegesis by way of Peter Parker, you say?

Do tell me more.

 

[garwin4j]

It has probably been said, but I am just saying it again. I don't think the Mark of the Beast is going to be that subtle. I think you are going to know exactly what you are doing and have to make a real decision as to wither you are going to take the mark or not. Not just show up at school one day to find it being handed out. I am not too happy of the parents and girls decisions because this thing simply isn't the mark, it is not even on the body, you like take it of when you reach home (if I understand correctly). It just make our (Christians) legit concerns look sill and so when the real mark some, people would be like "Yeah, we have been through this already". Also, as someone posted, if you think the school is administering the Mark, why are you sending your child to that school?

 

[sw!ft]

I think Jim Jeffries sums up religion perfectly in about 3 minutes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXThbqU0dw4

 

[SockPuppetGovernment]

Pax vobiscum already!
Every human generation contains convincing pundits loudly claiming theirs is the last, and every one of them has been wrong every time (well, except for Heaven's Gate). The Jehovah's Witnesses probably hold the record, though, having named several dates and seen them pass.

 

[Goofball_Jones]

Wonderful, we're still arguing over 2000 to 3000 year old, bronze age folk tales.

I mean, just LOOK at the amount of comments this story has gotten. And it's a silly little story about RFID tags. Throw some religion into it and WHAM, Ars just got their rent money for the month!

 

[Nagroth]

There are two issues to consider here. The first one is fairly simple- should we allow someone a Free Pass on the rules just because they claim some sort of religious belief? This is the most relevant to her argument, and IMHO the answer is "no". The law should treat everyone equally, and not get into the business of deciding whose beliefs are legitimate and whose are not.

However, as many have pointed out already, there is another issue- whether or not requiring ID's, especially ones which facilitate tracking, is a violation of certain Liberties. In this specific case I am inclined to also say "no", because her parents do have options other than the public school. However, it does worry me a little bit that a public school is doing this, but on the other hand it's not a completely public facility- access is limited to students and faculty. Even parents are required to check in before wandering the halls, and I would assume they would be required to carry a visitor's badge.

While I do feel some concern about children becoming immunized to the idea of being tracked by the Authorities, I'm not sure that it's really any kind of violation of rights. After all, they are already required to be present in specific locations at specific times, ID or not, and roll-call and attendance are basically the same thing whether done by electronics or by pen and paper.

 

[Koshchei]

I'm sure he'd think he was, but I'd disagree. I may not be well versed enough in all writings from around the world, but from the religious literature I've read, both historic and modern, I see what I believe is a tendency toward Orientalism in the sense that descriptions are not intended to be literal, but rather focus on imagery and feeling, be it Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Jain, etc. This stands in contrast to the more Occidental literalism that a lot of preachers, especially in the US, especially in the stereotypical South, ascribe to the those scriptures. I find it much more reasonable to believe that famine would cover the earth through political, farming, and environmental conditions than as a result of some dude riding Black Beauty.

I'd comment on option d, but I can't tell what I set out as options a,b,and c.

My point about Said was that the whole concept of "orient" and "occident" is utterly absurd; the "orient" is a construct created by Western imperialist powers, dating back to John Mandeville (or Herodotus depending on whether or not you have a classics background), to give us an "other" to civilize. If you toss aside your false dichotomy and actually look at eastern cultures, you'll see that western countries are as similar to them as they are to one another; they're populated by humans who believe stuff. Other than that, they have their own unique cultural and political histories, languages, and beliefs.

To that point, there's plenty of historical precedent, even modern, describing the effects of literalism creating poorly thought-out national policy, an example being China's Great Leap Forward, in which between 18 and 45 million people starved to death.

 

[ewelch]

There are two issues to consider here. The first one is fairly simple- should we allow someone a Free Pass on the rules just because they claim some sort of religious belief? This is the most relevant to her argument, and IMHO the answer is "no". The law should treat everyone equally, and not get into the business of deciding whose beliefs are legitimate and whose are not.

Actually, and this isn't a matter of opinion, the First Amendment means the answer is yes. If free speech is protected, then so is religious freedom. But as free speech has its limits, so does freedom of religion. As long as someone else's freedom is not limited by someone's religious expression, they themselves must not be limited. For this ID card situation, which is designed as a convenience for roll-taking, it most likely does not rise to the level of claiming their religious freedom (however misguided the rest of us might think they are) should not be honored.

Come up with an alternative for keeping track of this one girl. Put her on the honor system, where she keep has to keep her own attendance log. With audits, the first time she violates it intentionally, beast-mark her. :devious:

 

[Angry Ribosome]

I was very pleasantly surprised to find this article a well-thought out critique of how some religious beliefs are at odd with society, rather than a dismissal of a doctrine that is obviously dear to this girl. Kudos to Nate and Eric for treating the subject with respect and supplying historical background for those who may not come to this article with extensive religious experience. It's for well thought out articles like these that I have Ars as part of my daily reading.

 

[DemonNiko]

Personally, I prefer my God's fury not full strength but mixed with vermouth and little olive juice.

...and now I want to come up with a martini called God's Fury

Also, part of me wonders if this whole thing isn't a dodge to keep people from looking in too closely at the immigration status of the girl's family...

Edited for poor use of spelling

 

[aforars]

I dislike Ars' comment system for articles with 8 pages of comments.

 

[jgershon]

Interesting. So it appears that 666 might be more precisely described as the "checksum of the Beast".

 

[another ars account]

I dislike Ars' comment system for articles with 8 pages of comments.

Fair enough.

Could you be a little more specific as to why?

 

[AnonymousRich]

These paranoid idiots who oppose RFID generally don't understand the technology and think Big Brother can pinpoint you anywhere on the globe. RFID is NOT GPS. Guess what folks, NOBODY cares about you or what you do. If they do, its either to make money by selling you crap, or you're probably on the run from the law. Its not like there's thousands of government agents sitting at computers and on a whim wanting to see what Sally is up to. Hell, you can pretty much already do that yourself. It's called Twitter and Facebook.

I think there is ample evidence that schools *do* care what you do off campus, to the extent that they spy on you using school provided laptops and suspend you based upon facebook content they do not like.

School used student laptop webcams to spy on them at school and home

‘Which Classmates They Would Kill’: ACLU Sues Indiana School After Girls Are Suspended for Off-Color Facebook Jokes

 

[Seraphiel]

I understand the Beast in Revelations is Rome. The seven heads of the beast are the seven hills of Rome. The 10 horns were representative of the client kings the Romans left in place to rule their conquered lands.

That seems the most likely explanation.

To sum up: Anyone claiming that Revelations is some sort of prophetic account has simply not read it.

It says, right in the beginning, that it's addressed to seven specific churches in other locations. It's not more complicated than that. There's not more to read into it. It's a letter to the author's contemporary allies, written in code due to fear of imperial entanglements. It is not a prediction meant for thousands of years in the future. It is not a warning of some supervillain taking over the planet with magic powers.

 

[AnonymousRich]

What I Don't Understand is...

1. If the school is putting the Mark of the Beast on kids, then obviously they must be in league with the Antichrist. If you think the school is in league with the Antichrist, why on Earth would you let your kid go there?

This is not a parental option, they can choose private school (expensive), or homeschooling (most places I think), but not no school (if all schools in the area are doing this, going to a different school would not be a solution). These other options may not be viable options, I can't afford private school for example.

 

[AnonymousRich]

Interesting. So it appears that 666 might be more precisely described as the "checksum of the Beast".

I wish I'd thought of that.

 

[Mark_oo]

Interesting. So it appears that 666 might be more precisely described as the "checksum of the Beast".

I wish I'd thought of that.

Fear 668 - the dreaded neighbour of the Beast!

 

[Random_stranger]

I hope you're right, but your proof is? ~100 years ago people said things like "communicating at a distance without wires isn't going to happen. Ever." or "Flying is impossible."

That's the single (technically a pair) dumbest counterexample I've ever seen.

And that's saying something, this is the internet.


I can't think of any, but can you find a single compulsory, invasive, medical procedure forced en masse on American children in the last 50 years? The last hundred?

I'm sorry to be rude, but that's just not a realistic fear. This coming from someone who carries a BoB in preparation for the outbreak of weaponized rabies.

kinda /s

Wow, thanks for the award Seriously, I had a busy day (in the middle of a refi), so I didn't time to search for a good counterexample. I guess a good counterexample would be the government promising something was limited in scope, and then making it for everyone, or saying something was temporary and then making it permanent (income taxes?).

I guess vaccines don't count as an example of "forced" procedures.

I guess I see it as more of a confluence of lots of little things:
-animals are now routinely RFID tagged (any animal from the local shelter comes with one)
-schools are always worried about funding (my wife is a teacher)
-anything that brings in more funding (=more salary or more teachers) is desirable

And from outside the US:
-I understand (and if I'm incorrect, I apologize) that in Germany, for example, home schooling is not allowed, your child must attend public school (story a couple of years about about family where the father was detained by police because his children weren't in school)
-my mom works for a man in Germany who told her that there are policemen/guards/whatever at the airports in Germany, watching for parents traveling with school-age children during the school year to prevent children from missing too much school. I.e. they REALLY want your child at public school in Germany

What better way to check in than via RFID tag that's implanted?

Anyway, gotta get back to work..

 

[helel ben shachar]

Sorry, I can't just up arrow this. Being rather non-religious I honestly can't say I've seen this angle from your particular viewpoint personally. Thanks. I appreciate and sincerely thank you for this well reasoned and insightful post.

So, even though it's insightful and well reasoned, you can't up arrow it because he's religious and you aren't? Isn't that awfully similar to the problem this article addresses in the first place? The inability to admit someone you disagree with might not be evil, or have some hidden agenda that agreeing with them brings some taint that marks you for life?

This might not ever been seen, but oh well. Let me rephrase that: Sorry, I can't only just up arrow this. It was a great post. I wanted to comment to the way it moved me at the time, with was only positively. I agree wholeheartedly with the poster. I wanted to say that with more than an up arrow, which I did 'up' the post, and wanted to add that I really appreciated what he had to say.