Amish Sue Government For Mark of The Beast RFID Tags

November 18, 2008

Amish sue US government for 'mark of the Beast' on livestock

Amish farmers are to sue the US government on the grounds that plans

to put electronic identity tags on livestock constitute imposing the

" mark of the Beast " .

government-for-mark-of-the-Beast-on-livestock.html

By Tom Leonard in New York

Last Updated: 11:33PM GMT 17 Nov 2008

Amish farmers

Amish farmers say the livestock ID scheme is a violation of their

fundamental religious beliefs Photo: AP

A group of seven Amish farmers in Michigan say the state's insistence

that they use radio frequency ID devices on their animals " constitutes

some form of a 'mark of the Beast' and/or represents an infringement

of their 'dominion over cattle and all living things' in violation of

their fundamental religious beliefs, " according to their lawsuit.

Some Amish, who have a booming business in producing organic milk,

disagree with radio ID tagging so strongly that they said they will

give up farming if they do not get an exemption.

The Amish, members of an Anabaptist Christian denomination, are best

known for their literal interpretation of the Bible and their simple

lifestyle.

The livestock registration is intended to create a national tracking

system to help contain outbreaks of diseases such as mad cow disease,

or foot and mouth.

But the Amish claim that the scheme threatens their religious beliefs

because, they believe, it is part of an ongoing attempt to number

every living thing, a practice mentioned in Revelations where it is

linked with the Devil.

The US department of agriculture (USDA) argues that its cattle tagging

plan is voluntary and that the lawsuit should instead be directed at

the state of Michigan, which wants to make it compulsory.

The USDA has also pointed out that farmers, including Amish ones, are

already using numbered metal studs to track animals.

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