From the dawn of time, religious sects have deliberately avoided technological advances and are poised do so again with the advent of personal identification technology.

A large sector of the Christian community has openly voiced their objections to the identification hardware and software based on their unfounded, fanatical belief that the end times are quickly approaching.

The basis of their aversion to new personal identification hardware, such as the Verichip implant, (see earlier March article in this paper) is their fear that the hardware could become the “mark of the beast” as mentioned in Revelation 13:16.

Every successive generation of Christians has believed themselves to be in the end times, however, despite nearly two thousand years of anxiety over the perceived end times, we still find ourselves in a world of constantly progressing ideas and inventions.

In late 1936, Christians were faced with a similar issue as the first Social Security Numbers began to be distributed. Christians all over the country saw it as the “mark of the beast” due to the fact that all in the nation would all be numbered.

Years passed and tensions subsided, and now Social Security numbers serve as a vital and beneficial form of identification in our high-paced world.

Much like this, Christians feared the invention of such useful and profitable technologies as the telephone, computers, automobiles and even electricity due to their dread of all that is new and unique, often attributing such things to evil.

To this day, small Christian sects, one of which is the Amish, remain secluded from the innovations of the world as to protect themselves from the change that could possibly come along with those inventions.

In a larger arena, Christians have been using their fears as a barrier to protect them from change since their inception. This obsessant fear of change is what many secular onlookers view as a stubborn attempt to live in the past while in the midst of a world that is striving toward tomorrow.

This paranoia on the part of the Christian community turns many away from religion of any kind and toward more progressive movements in the areas of science and invention.

The Christian community must face their fear of change and conquer their tendency to shun new ideas if they truly wish to serve as positive witnesses of their faith and ultimately accomplish the great commission by bringing others to Christ.