666

Cocobeem · Keeper of the Holy Grail

666

Jen · Senior Bucketkeeper

Message board identities, definitely.

lundbaek · Profuse Pontificator

I honestly do not know what the mark of the beast is or will be. It is one of those things that I've not felt any need to study, partly because I think I'd get nowhere with it.

Re. 666, the house across the street from us had for years the house number 666, until a recent owner had it changed to 662.

Cocobeem · Keeper of the Holy Grail

Yeah, see I think it's sort of a dead-end as well. But why is it made such a big deal then? Is it really THAT serious if we have the number of the beast or not? Or maybe it's entirely symbolic and just means having righteous works or something...

mirkwood · Senior Bucketkeeper

Slight derail...

-- Edited by mirkwood at 00:06, 2008-08-18

arbilad · Head Chef

My opinion is that the mark of the beast is going to be pretty much how they describe it in the Book of Revelations - you're going to need it to buy or sell anything. Imagine, for instance, if you could not buy gas for your car without scanning your implanted chip at the pump. You couldn't buy food for your family without that implanted chip. You couldn't pay your mortgage or your heating bill without scanning your chip at your computer and sending the info to the mortgage or heating company.
And I think that the mark of the beast is going to be something obvious and odious - it isn't going to just be that you happen to notice that the credit card you've used for years happens to be the mark of the beast. I think that it will be obvious when they try to get you to adopt it, and it will be offensive to the righteous.

Cocobeem · Keeper of the Holy Grail

Scanning a chip isn't that offensive to me...

I mean, unless you use cash totally (like my Dad) they pretty much know what you're doing and where you do it. (I work at a bank, remember?)

I wonder why that would reflect one's level of righteousness...

Rev. 13:11 And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.
12 And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.
13 And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,
14 And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.
15 And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.
16 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:
17 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.
18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.

I read somewhere (7th Day Adventists?) that if you write the title of the Pope in Italian or whatever and add up the Roman numerals you get 666.

We buy and sell now with "the world" ... I guess I can't see the way it'll be something to avoid at all costs down the road.

arbilad · Head Chef

Ah, Coco, but in the vast majority of cases, the chip you're scanning isn't implanted in you. And my assumption is that it will also be your "national id card", contain your medical records (or a link to them), and many other things that are odious to those who love freedom.
Right now you can still get away with using cash. What I'm saying is, what if you absolutely could not buy food without scanning the implanted chip?
I'm actually not too worked up about this issue, because if I prepare the way the Lord tells me to I don't think it will be an issue for me.
I mean, if you want to, you can even buy a pre-loaded visa in the supermarket and use that for online transactions with a fair degree of anonymity. Right now it's nowhere near as onerous a burden as it will probably become.

lundbaek · Profuse Pontificator

Just a bit of speculation, but my guess is that in order to be issued the so-called mark of the beast, one will have to make commitments that one considers immoral in one way or another. Those commitments might include written acceptance of a world religion, and/or a pledge of allegiance to a regional or world government that, for example, is in opposition to the government the Lord gave us thru the Founding Fathers, namely the US Constitution.

Cocobeem · Keeper of the Holy Grail

Okay, lundie, now we're getting somewhere... I can see that and will happily mill over this new-found dimension of latter-day evil the rest of the day.

arbilad · Head Chef

BTW, once I had a cell phone that had, as part of the number, "666".

Cocobeem · Keeper of the Holy Grail

Ooooh... did you request that? Cuz you know nothing is coincidental!

:E

lundbaek · Profuse Pontificator

I just hate to ruin your day with more latter-day evil, Cocobeam, but have a look at this: http://thenewamerican.com/node/185

"Millions of Americans were justifiably shocked and outraged over the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals notorious ruling on the Pledge of Allegiance. Can our courts really have sunk this low? people asked. How can little Johnny and Suzie violate the Constitution by uttering the words under God while reciting the Pledge of Allegiance in a public school?

Yet that is what the Court said in its June 26th decision. This ruling was a continuation of an ongoing subversive campaign aimed at expunging all mention of God and all Christian symbols from the public sphere. Judicial activists have ordered our students not to invoke the Almightys name in prayer on school property. Posting the Ten Commandments on classroom walls is also supposedly a major no-no. Traditional Christmas carols with religious themes are out, as are Nativity scenes. Christmas and Easter vacations have been de-Christianized to, respectively, winter and spring breaks. Many textbooks have dropped the traditional Christocentric dating system of B.C. (Before Christ) and A.D. (Anno Domini, In the Year of Our Lord) in favor of B.C.E. (Before the Common Era) and C.E. (Common Era)."

"One of the documents designed to advance this process, the long-awaited Earth Charter, was formally unveiled to the world at Johannesburg. Crafted by a conclave of Wise Persons headed by former Soviet dictator Mikhail Gorbachev, it is set to become the Holy Writ of the UNs new global spirituality. Although the Earth Charter is not a legally binding document, its impact may prove damaging and pervasive. Its benign-sounding verbiage and symbolic nature camouflage its dangerous purpose. The Charter is intended to become a universally adopted creed that will psychologically prepare the worlds children to accept the necessity of world government to save the environment. It is also an outrageous attempt to indoctrinate your children in the UNs New Age paganism."

The Preamble of the Earth Charter states:

we are one human family and one Earth community with a common destiny. We must join together to bring forth a sustainable global society founded on respect for nature.... Towards this end, it is imperative that we, the peoples of Earth, declare our responsibility to one another, to the greater community of life, and to future generations.