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State Bills To Ban Implanted RFIDs Moving Ahead Partly Out of Biblical Concerns

By Howard M. Friedman

Virginia's House of Delegates yesterday passed by a vote of 88-9 with 1 abstention House Bill No. 53 banning insurers or employers from requiring implantation of microchips into a person's body. According to yesterday's Washington Post, while privacy issues are the main concern, the bill's sponsor Del. Mark L.Cole says he also shares the concern that implanted radio frequency identification tags might be the "mark of the beast" that is described in the Biblical Book of Revelation. He explained: "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. Some people think these computer chips might be that mark." Nashville Scene yesterday reported that a similar bill (HB0791) has been introduced into the Tennessee legislature. At a hearing on the bill, critics of the bill suggested that implanted RFIDs might be useful to track Alzheimer's patients or sex offenders.

Full post as published by Religion Clause on February 11, 2010 (boomark / email).