Is *this* the mark of the beast?
Just about every technological advance is criticized by some extremists as a sign of the apocalypse. The printing press (yes, the printing press), the bar code, Social Security cards and Y2K have all been targets.

Now, consumer advocate Katherine Albrecht is claiming that RFID is *really* the mark of the beast (no word on why the ones I mentioned previously failed to spark the end of the world). In Albrecht's world, everyone will be implanted with RFID chips and be tracked by "the man." Here is a passage from the WIRED article:

Another passage in Revelation describes a vision in which "a foul and loathsome sore came upon the men who had the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image." Albrecht and McIntyre write, ""Interestingly, an implanted RFID device like the VeriChip could potentially cause such a tormenting sore if it is subjected to a strong source of electromagnetic radiation," such as a directed energy weapon.

If it is subject to electromagnetic radiation such as a directed energy weapon? Where did that weapon thing come from? If you need to invent weapons and crazy scenarios just to make your doomsday scenario work, it's not a really solid doomsday scenario in my opinion (but hey, I'm no doomsday scenario expert). It's like saying that ice cream is a sign of the end of the world. Why? Because , in the future, giant, ice cream-craving aliens could swoop down and destroy the planet with their gigantic alien feet and acidic alien saliva (It *could* happen, you know!)

What I find more interesting is that Albrecht is promoting her new book on the topic (and, it turns out to be her second book on the topic) -- "The Spychips Threat: Why Christians Should Resist RFID and Electronic Surveillance." Wonder what she is doing will all of the money she is making from these humanitarian works? Surely the books are free, since money won't mean anything once we have the implants. And I wonder if the books will have bar codes and ISBN numbers?

As with all of the previous "threats," I'm going to go out on a limb and bet that this one will fail to bring an end to the world. I guess that idea doesn't sell too many books, though.