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Electronic IDs The Mark of the Beast is closer than you think. By Ken Raggio 
You know who you are, but your identity is a hot topic nowadays. Almost nobody is willing to trust that you are who you say you are – especially the government and big business. New, stricter ID standards are sweeping the nation and the world. Christians know that the Bible foretells a global identification system called the Mark of the Beast. We all know it’s coming, but is it already here? Our identity is the new national border. Anyone can see that the Unites States government is no longer seriously concerned with securing its physical borders. Arguably, there is a move to permanently dissolve them. But that is a secondary issue to the greater reality of National ID. Fences are out, ID is in. It no longer matters where you live physically. It only matters how you are identified. Your ID takes you in or puts you out of the system. The e- in e-Borders stands for electronic. Just like e-mail, your e-ID is electronic. And e-ID equals e-Border. In the U.K., the Home Office refers to e-Borders as “exporting the borders”. This vernacular illustrates that physical, geographical borders are now moot. Wherever you are in the world, your e-ID legally determines where you can and cannot be. “We cannot get control over our borders, or regulate the flow of legal workers, until the Federal Government has an electronic verification system that works,” says Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas. Cornyn helped introduce the REAL ID ACT of 2005. The idea is to control the populace wherever they are – electronically. 
The U.S. Congress passed, and President Bush signed into law, the REAL ID ACT on May 11, 2005. H.R. 418 was quietly imbedded into H.R. 1268, a huge war budget bill that finally passed in the Senate by a vote of 100-0. The virtually-unmentioned Real ID Act required that all people living in America must carry a biometric National ID card by May of 2008. 
Fortunately, a powerful backlash from individual states and several privacy groups has severely impeded the implementation of the REAL ID system. Kathryn Albrecht, author of "Spychips," and founder of CASPIAN, a consumer privacy protection organization, has been quite vocal at sounding alarms against a national ID system.
But make no mistake, even though REAL ID is not yet in force (as of this writing), it is still on the way. The Federal Government has since introduced an alternate plan called PASS ID, which is nothing other than a nefarious remake of REAL ID, designed and intended to make an end-run around the REAL ID protestors. In any other time in history, there would have been a nationwide public outrage. Congressmen and citizens would have raised their voices in violent opposition. But that is all for the history books now. One of the few remaining opponents of record to a national ID system is Congressman Ron Paul of Texas. I spoke to him at a "Stop Illegal Immigration" rally in Dallas in 2006, and asked him what he thought could be done to stop the REAL ID ACT of 2005 from being put into force, and he only shrugged his shoulders and changed the subject. I am convinced that those in a position to know what is going on are only too aware that the national ID freight train cannot be stopped. Sooner or later, the US is going to have a national ID, just as all the other nations of the world will. What did the REAL ID ACT do to Americans? It mandated that within a few short years, all of us who are Americans will be forced to carry a microchip, presumably on a card (at first), programmed with biometric identification. It is important to realize, however, that in many states, the REAL ID is already being activated, far in advance of the deadline. Many Americans already carry biometric ID. 
What are biometrics? Bio- (as in biological) and -metrics (as in measurements) is the new way for government and businesses to know “for certain” who you are. You have probably already seen biometrics at work. If you tried to cash a check at any bank other than your own, they probably required you to submit your fingerprint which was then digitally scanned and registered into their database as your biometric identifier. At entry points in corporate offices and government headquarters around the world, people are having their hands scanned, their retinas and irises scanned, their photographs and videos taken, their voices recognized, even their DNA being analyzed – all in the name of identification verification. These are all biometric identifiers. 
Why is all this radical technology being put to use? The answer depends on whether you want the most publicized reasons or the real reasons. The most publicized reasons for biometric identification are “to prevent terrorism” or “to prevent identity theft.” Experience has already shown however, that ID cards do not prevent terrorism. All of the terrorists in the U.S. tragedy of 9/11 had “valid” identification cards. And identify theft is still a certain possibility under present microchip technology. So what are the real reasons for stricter, more stringent ID controls? Control of the masses. The Bible prophecy about the Mark of the Beast states, “And 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” (Revelation 13:16-17). The Mark of the Beast will strictly control people. They will not be able to buy or sell if they do not have it. The present biometric e-ID systems will soon present that very dilemma to society. The U.S. Government has already mandated that all international passports entering the U.S. must contain machine-readable biometric identification. Singapore unveiled its first biometric microchip passport in April 2006 – as a direct response to U.S. Visa requirements. And they are only one of many countries who are doing the same, for the same reason – the U.S. requires it. The International Civil Aviation Organization already requires that all its 188 member nations issue machine-readable biometric passports, on their standard, by 2010. In Malaysia and Brunei, the national smartcard ID serves as driver license, passport, ATM cash card, medical benefits card, “Touch-n-Go” travel cards, e-commerce authentication, PLUS the individual’s fingerprints, iris-scan and photograph. You can buy and sell with it. It is increasingly difficult to buy and sell without it. The Mark of the Beast mentioned eight times in Revelation is defined as a physical mark, either in the right hand or in the forehead. Even though the REAL ID ACT does not yet require a mark like this, the head of Homeland Security has the right, within the Patriot Act, to name and require that very technology. The human-implantable RFID (Radio-frequency ID) chip is the next generation technology to follow the microchip smartcards. It is a tiny glass casing containing a sophisticated microchip that can store everything and more than the current smartcards carry – including extensive digitized biometric identifiers. 
Applied Digital Solutions, a publicly-traded American company has aggressively promoted its “Verichip” product as the ultimate identification system. According to the Washington Post, more than 232 doctors in 80 hospitals are already offering implants to their patients. The company’s goal was to be in 200 hospitals by the end of 2006. They targeted Washington D.C. as their model city by donating free RFID readers to local hospital emergency rooms to encourage them to implant the Verichip in all their incoming patients. It is hoped that this implanted chip technology will soon become standard issue for hospital patients nationwide. The day may soon come when your hospital will require you to be implanted with this chip before receiving your medical treatment. 
Can the implantable chip, the size of a grain of rice, actually fulfill the prophecies of the Bible? John the Revelator spoke of the ‘mark’ with his native Greek word “charagma,” which means “a stamp, and imprinted mark, a thing carved or graven.” The root of “charagma” is “charax,” which means “sharpen to a point; a pale; a pointed stick.” Interestingly, the Verichip is pierced into the skin (carved or graven?) by a syringe that is a sharp, pointed stick. Did John actually see this gadget? Verichip also has a US Patent 2003/195523 that covers the use of any external marking, such as a tattoo, to indicate the presence or original location of a Verichip under the skin. Even though they are currently being marketed for medical applications, it is no secret that its manufacturers hope to see them exploited for all their potential. An RFID chip implant could easily serve as a national ID, passport, cash card, health card, and more. Already, people wearing these devices are using them to pay their bills, enter their homes, start their cars, log onto their computers, check into hospitals, etc. – simply by waving their implanted chip past an RFID reader. 
Will the implanted RFID chip become the Mark of the Beast? At this moment, only God knows for sure. The worst news, prophetically, is that everyone who takes the mark will face the wrath of God. “If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name” (Revelation 14:9-11). This terse warning would seem to indicate that unless and until we know for certain how this technology will be utilized by the government, we would be wise to avoid it. See also: Don't Take The Mark! See also: Will NATIONAL ID Become The Mark Of The Beast?
I am continually writing new content for this site. Please return often for more material, and tell your friends about www.kenraggio.com , too! THANKS! And God bless you! Ken Raggio 
Click here for BOOKS and VIDEOS by Ken Raggio ALL ARTICLES WRITTEN BY KEN RAGGIO, Copyright 1988-2011 Articles may not be republished on the Internet without express permission. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Thanks for coming by!
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