From: jma@carson.u.washington.edu (Jens Anderson)
Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian
Subject: The Mark of the Beast?
Date: 28 Jan 93 09:29:01 GMT
Organization: University of Washington, Seattle

Prophecying the Antichrist and his false prophet in the "end times", the
Bible says:

     Revelation 13:16-18
     He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free
     and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his
     forehead,
     17 so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark,
     which is the name of the beast or the number of his name.
     18 This calls for wisdom. If anyone has insight, let him
     calculate the number of the beast, for it is man's number. His
     number is 666.

The purpose of this posting is to make people aware of the Universal
Product Code's (UPC) compelling case for being this "mark of the beast".
Today, the UPC is used to uniquely "mark" almost every product bought or
sold so that scanning devices can quickly identify a product and its
determine its price.  The UPC is used world-wide.  A careful examination
of the UPC reveals that IF it is ever used to identify every person on
earth for the sake of "easing" the "buying and selling", by giving every
person his own unique "mark", Revelation 13:16-18 may be fulfilled.

* The most interesting detail, though, is that the most common UPC in
use has the number 666 intrinsically embedded in it. *

The UPC is capable of identifying at least 1 trillion unique products or
people (or whatever) while the current population of the planet is about
6 billion.  Also, a significant number of scanning devices are ALREADY
in place should such a system be devised.  ATM, cash/debit cards, and/or
a one world card, would all be effective stepping stones to a such a
world economic system.  So, the UPC could very easily be imposed upon
the right hand or forehead" of every citizen of the "new world order" by
a coming world leader.  Maybe the "new world order" is not so far off
after all?  The Bible says:

     Revelation 14:9-12
     A third angel followed them and said in a loud voice: "If
     anyone worships the beast and his image and receives his mark
     on the forehead or on the hand,
     10 he, too, will drink of the wine of God's fury, which has
     been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. He will
     be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy
     angels and of the Lamb.
     11 And the smoke of their torment rises for ever and ever.
     There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast
     and his image, or for anyone who receives the mark of his
     name."
     12 This calls for patient endurance on the part of the saints
     who obey God's commandments and remain faithful to Jesus.

I have written a two page summary sheet describing the UPC which clearly
demonstrates that the number "666" is a permanent feature of this
"mark".  Since the paper includes graphics, depicting examples of the
UPC and showing the "666", I cannot post it.  However, I will snail-mail
a copy of this UPC summary to everyone who sends their name and address
(not e-mail address) to me.

Please send all requests for the two page UPC summary to:

Ty Anderson

jma@u.washington.edu
      or,
tma@plato.ds.boeing.com

     John 3:36
     Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever
     rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on
     him."

     Romans 10:9
     That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and
     believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you
     will be saved.
     ...
     Romans 10:13
     "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."


[If you choose to get this information, please make sure you look at
the details.  Note that the things that are being interpreted as 6's
aren't actually what the UPC normally uses for 6's, though there are
some similarities.  In fact they are patterns of alternating 0 and 1
used to synchronize at the beginning of the number.  (They have to be
at both beginning and end, in reverse order, because the numbers can
be read from either end.)

That's not to say that the basic idea is impossible.  Science fiction
has certainly explored the concept of people being marked for
electronic reading.  But I rather suspect if such a thing were done,
it wouldn't use UPC, which is designed specifically to be read with an
optical scanner at close range.  Something on the surface would be too
easy to change, and wouldn't be all the useful for security purposes,
since it would tend to be blocked by clothing, etc.  Assuming you're
talking about a permanent mark (as opposed to a card or something
similar -- which of course is already common), I'd bet on something
designed to be read from some distance, and probably inserted
subcutaneously.  Not that this is something I think our populations
would be willing to accept, but who knows what could be possible in
the future.  There is something already being done that is at least
suggestive: the electronic ID's used to monitor house arrest.  I don't
know the details of that, but I believe it uses radio.

--clh]