[intopieces]

Serious question: What is the difference between having a card and having a chip? I mean, theologically, and what is your particular hesitation? Growing up in a conservative, christian household myself, there were rumblings that the Mark of the Beast had already arrived in the form of a Social Security Number.

[protomyth]

Some groups teach "the mark of the beast" fairly literally (e.g. SSN, credit cards, etc.), but I was taught it is not literal but symbolic of having to profess a heretical belief to participate in commerce with the hand / head position relating to the way you professed the belief. It goes along with the rest of the symbolism in Revelations. Literal vs Symbolic is a long running topic in most Christian churches.

[filoeleven]

> I was taught it is not literal but symbolic of having to profess a heretical belief to participate in commerce with the hand / head position relating to the way you professed the belief.

I remember something similar from a course I took in college, perhaps, or something I read later. Whatever it was it went even further with the symbolism: the idea was that the mark on the forehead represents the way in which one thinks, and the mark on the hand represents the way in which one acts. The takeaway was that it wasn't so much that one would be forced to make a claim of some sort in order to participate in the system of commerce, but rather that by participating in the system one is already marked by it.

I liked this interpretation because it changed the emphasis from one of watching out for some piece of technology or some bitter-tasting oath that you'd have to profess--both of which seem like they'd raise red flags to even the most casual Christian and are therefore unlikely to be much of a real threat--to one of looking inward and evaluating how your own participation in any system of exchange is subtly affecting the way you look at the world and at other people. (You can also see how this isn't terribly compatible with the brand of prosperity theology that has infected some branches of American Protestantism.)

[andrei_says_]

For me: what's involved in getting rid of/cutting the card vs. the implanted chip.

Knowing that rfid chips may be and are used not only for advertised transactions but also for tracking (Google around for unauthorized fasttrack readers), I'd like to be able to leave the chip at home.

[madelinecameron]

Not really a whole lot.

When I told my family about how much I wanted to get an RFID chip implanted in my hand my grandma flipped. She called me Satan, totally unjokingly.

I learned quickly to just not speak about technology. The top comment on the article proves why (People don't understand it)