RFID and the 2nd coming
I’ll leave it to you to work out the context with which I repost this editorial put up on Facebook by a friend who travelled to Idaho and partook in the local culture by reading the local newspaper:
Last Sunday, while walking to work, an old friend pulled his mountain bike over and asked, “Have you noticed that the world is going crazy?” I let him know that I have been aware of some changes. So that is when he told me about a Web site that he had been visiting and that I would be greatly edified to check it out.
We’ve known each other for some time and tend to agree on most issues of which we speak, but I don’t know if he saw what I did during my visit to this site.
A couple of weeks back I had the occasion to go into Wal-Mart to make my monthly purchases (Quick note- Sam also made purchases at that Wal-Mart and left her credit card there, which led to a series of events that culminated with my being pulled over for speeding) and when it came time to pay, I pulled out my checkbook and was told that I did not need to write anything on my check because it would be done digitally. WHAT??
Well, it finally happened. The Federal Reserve Bank took the next step in making our society paperless without making a big deal out of the procedure. I guess I’m glad that I haven’t ordered any more checks.
Back to the Web site: Ron Paul was the choice for the next president and it was speaking about the Federal Reserve and how our government had begun the process of creating a new currency in America, which would replace the dollar. LOU DOBBS has been following the secret plans to make Canada, Mexico and the United States one country under one economy and one currency.
What the site presented was interesting, particularly when it spole of the RFID chip that could be used to monitor everything. When implanted in an individual it potentially could be used to keep tabs on anything relevant in our daily lives, where we went, what we purchased, even who we hung out with at the mall.
But the biggest thing was that if it were ever taken away, we would not be able to buy, sell or participate in life as we now enjoy it.
People called the chip Orwellian, big brother is watching.
But what I saw was the writing in the books of Daniel, Ezekiel and Revelation and the prophecy of the second coming of Christ in the Holy Bible. The Iraq War is a distraction and we are in a pot of warm water that is about to boil. Can you feel the heat?
The good part of this observation is that it shows how relevant the book of Revelation is today. But sometimes people get too literal about it. In all times and places people have been able to point to the fact that the book is speaking about their situation. This is because the book, which describes the pressure on the Christian church to conform to Emperor worship in Rome, points out that every State that forgets its position before God ends up demanding its citizens treat it as God. Therefore we find all kinds of counterfeit gods in Revelation employing all kinds of coercion. The hazard is applying this narrative to a Conservative rather than Messianic conception of time. The Conservative enjoins this to their ‘everything is getting worse all the time’ feeling and comes up with an immediate and new threat “it’s here!” The apostle Paul rather encourages a peaceful attitude of resistance that is Messianic. Instead you realise that whatever currency they try and make you use, electronic or otherwise, it doesn’t matter. Your heart is not for sale and is waiting for something better without fear.
But what about the motive to take action against perceived transgressions against the state?
Ignoring the conservative conspiros thinking that Oyster cards are the mark of the devil for a moment, there are obviously times when the state goes too far, as Revelations reminds us. Isn’t there a case for active resistance? I’m thinking of what I do like in Simon Critchley’s new “Infinitely Demanding” about loving your neighbour more than yourself. Peaceful resistance might be fine for you, but what about the suffering other?