Slashdot Mirror
Students Tracked By RFID
TheMeuge writes "The New York Times is
reporting
a new development in the unrelenting progress of the
RFID juggernaut. The school district
of
Spring, Texas has adopted RFID as a way to track students' arrival and
departure. Upon being scanned, the data are transmitted to both the school
administrators, as well as city police. I guess cutting class is no longer an
option."
Wow, good thing you're here to tell us what Revelation (no "s") means. People have struggled with its meaning for centuries, but you're here to tell us that it has no meaning in this modern age. Well, that's a relief.
Dude, have you read Revelation? It can mean anything. The imagery is so insanely weird it can be interpreted pretty much however you want. Personally, I believe it is as relevant now as it was then, if not moreso.
One of the major portions relating to the mark of the beast is the fact that those who do not have it will be unable to buy or sell. That would imply that the antichrist would have complete mastery over the economic system of the time. If we were to store and access our bank accounts on an RFID / verichip hybrid, we'd be one step closer to a psuedo-capitalist, totalitarian economic system. That would suck.
Electric Monkey Pants
but you're here to tell us that it has no meaning in this modern age
That isn't what I said, at all. I said that what it was written about was contemporary to the writer, that is what apocalyptic texts writers were doing. Of course, something written hundreds or thousands of years can have meaning now. There is plenty of modern relavance in meaning in, say, the writings of the Greek Philosphers. It wasn't written for us, or about out time, but it can still be relevant.
However, in the same way an ancient Greek text discussing democracy isn't talking about the US Electoral College, Revelation isn't talking about RFID tags, and for the same reason.
To understand what is being spoken about you have to understand context. One reason much of the imagery is weird is most readers (me included) don't share the cultural references of the writer. Revelation isn't just something at the back of the bible, it is one of a whole set of apocalyptic texts, deliberately cryptic works addressing contemporary issues.
The cryptic nature means, yes, you can re-interpret it in many was if you wish, and the interpretation may well have meaning or relevance for you, now. You may even choose to use something never written as a prophecy or predicition as one, your choice.
Of course, I'm looking it as a historical document. If as a matter of faith you think it is prophetic, despite the historical evidence of how apocalytic writing was used at the time, then you are going to have a very different view.