Life With Big Brother......
Implanted Human microchips seen by some in Virginia House as device of
Antichrist
By Fredrick Kunkle and Rosalind S. Helderman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, February 10, 2010; B01
RICHMOND, FEB. 9 -- The House of Delegates is scheduled to vote
Wednesday on a bill that would protect Virginians from attempts by
employers or insurance companies to implant microchips in their bodies
against their will.
It might also save humanity from the antichrist, some supporters think.
Del. Mark L. Cole (R-Fredericksburg), the bill's sponsor, said that
privacy issues are the chief concern behind his attempt to criminalize
the involuntary implantation of microchips. But he also said he shared
concerns that the devices could someday be used as the "mark of the
beast" described in the Book of Revelation.
"My understanding -- I'm not a theologian -- but there's a prophecy in
the Bible that says you'll have to receive a mark, or you can neither
buy nor sell things in end times," Cole said. "Some people think these
computer chips might be that mark."
Cole said that the growing use of microchips could allow employers,
insurers or the government to track people against their will and that
implanting a foreign object into a human being could also have adverse
health effects.
"I just think you should have the right to control your own body," Cole
said.
The religious overtones have cast the debate into a realm that has made
even some supporters uneasy and caused opponents to mock the bill for
legislating the apocalypse.
Del. Robert H. Brink (D-Arlington) said on the House floor that he did
not find many voters demanding microchip legislation when he was
campaigning last fall: "I didn't hear anything about the danger of
asteroids striking the Earth, about the threat posed by giant
alligators in our cities' sewer systems or about the menace of forced
implantation of microchips in human beings."
Microchips, which use radio frequency identification, have been used in
pets to identify and track them. Proponents suggest that such chips
could be invaluable in making people's medical records portable and
secure and in helping to identify and find missing children. Others
have urged they be used with Alzheimer's disease patients.
But the growing use of microchips has collided with the Book of
Revelation. The biblical passage in question is in Chapter 13 and
describes the rise of a satanic figure known as "the Beast": "He
causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to
receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no
man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the
beast, or the number of his name."
David Neff, editor of the magazine Christianity Today, said that some
fundamentalist Christians believe that bar codes and implanted
microchips could be used by a totalitarian government to control
commerce -- a sign of the coming end of the world.
"This is part of a larger attempt to constantly read current history in
the light of the symbolic language of the Book of Revelation," he said.
That book has been sifted for clues to contemporary events almost since
the ink on the parchment dried, and Caesar, Nero, Napoleon, Hitler and
some of history's other controversial one-namers have been identified
as possible antichrists. Now, it's President Obama's turn, as tea
partyers and others warn of federal intrusions into the debate over
health-care reform.
Now, the book is giving new life to worries about microchips.
Such fears seemed futuristic until veterinarians began implanting
microchips in pets in the 1990s and especially after a Delray Beach,
Fla.-based company, VeriChip, introduced an implantable FDA-approved
chip in 2001 that could store a person's medical records.
A voluntary initiative by the federal government to control disease
outbreaks by tracking livestock using microchips and 15-digit numbers
has also whipped up fears of government intrusion in some farming
communities.
"I think it's kind of a lot of things. It's everything from civil
liberties to privacy rights to the mark of the beast," said Katherine
Albrecht, a nationally syndicated radio host who co-wrote "Spychips," a
book about corporations' use of microchips and other potentially
invasive technologies.
Several states, including Wisconsin, have approved bans such as the one
Virginia is proposing, and the Georgia Senate passed a similar bill
last week.
Virginia Del. Charles W. Carrico Sr. (R-Grayson) said that he would
probably back the bill because his rural community is leery of
government intrusions. But Carrico said he also gives credence to
biblical teachings on the importance of being vigilant against an
antichrist.
"As a Christian, I believe there is a time that Christ will come back
to receive his people home, and that's just the basis of what the Bible
shows, and that there will be an antichrist that arises during that
time, and those that remain, to buy or sell anything, they will have to
take on this mark," Carrico said. "I don't know that it's a microchip."
As the measure moved through House committees, Del. David B. Albo
(R-Fairfax) said that lawmakers wrestled with whether the military or
military contractors should be able to require that employees receive
implants as a condition of employment.
"This whole end-of-days thing I just heard about through rumors," Albo
said. "The fact that some people who support it are a little wacky
doesn't make it a bad idea."
Others dismissed the legislation, calling it a sideshow as lawmakers
grapple with a huge budget gap.
"We've got a $4 billion hole, and we're spending time on microchips,"
said Del. Albert C. Pollard Jr. (D-Northumberland). "At least when Nero
fiddled, they got good music."