Posted on 04/24/2006 7:25:48 PM PDT by Iam1ru1-2
A group of Christian conservatives is urging Gov. Joe Manchin to reject a federally mandated digitized driver's license law, comparing the bar-coded national ID program to the "mark of the beast."
Fourteen members of the group that opposes the federal Real ID Act of 2005 met with Division of Motor Vehicles Commissioner Joseph Cicchirillo, governor's office lawyer Joe Ward and Manchin legislative aide Jim Pitrolo for more than an hour on April 5.
Pastor Ervin "Butch" Paugh, a 57-year-old Nicholas County preacher who heads the group, said last week that the new driver's licenses are unconstitutional, invade people's privacy and conflict with Christian beliefs. He said the federal government is trying to create a "police state" with the new ID law.
"This is a total takeover by the beast system and a plan to ID everyone on the planet," said Paugh, who has a nationally syndicated radio show called "Call to Decision." "This will make someone a criminal if they don't sacrifice their Christian convictions."
The Real ID Act, which Congress approved last year, will take effect in 2008. States must comply with the regulations, according to Cicchirillo.
"The issue at hand is the protection of our citizens," he said in a letter to Paugh.
Department of Transportation spokeswoman Susan Watkins said DMV officials are "still reviewing and evaluating" Paugh's criticism of the standardized ID program.
"At this point no decisions have been made," Watkins said.
Last month, New Hampshire's House members overwhelmingly voted to bar the state from taking part in the national ID program. The New Hampshire Senate is expected to debate a similar bill.
The liberal American Civil Liberties Union and conservative Cato Institute also oppose the federally standardized driver's licenses. Libertarian party members across the country have spoken out against the Real ID Act.
The new law establishes national standards for state-issued driver's licenses and ID cards. Some call the new driver's licenses national ID cards because they require the approval of the Secretary of Homeland Security.
Each license or ID card must include the person's name, address, signature, date of birth, gender, and a digital photograph of the person's face. Applicants also must submit more documentation for identification purposes than most states now require.
Each state also must share its database with all other states. The database must include the basic information on the license, along with drivers' histories, including motor vehicle violations, suspensions and points on licenses.
The new law gives the secretary of Homeland Security the power to require additional details on state driver's licenses.
By May 2008, federal agencies will accept driver's licenses as identification only from states that comply with the new law. So residents who don't have the new IDs won't be allowed to board a plane or enter a federal building without one.
Paugh predicts that the federal government will require that digitized thumbprints, facial and eye scans, and DNA information be included on driver's licenses. He believes hundreds of thousands of Americans will refuse the new standardized driver's licenses.
"I don't want the information about my personal life put in a public record for anybody to get a hold of who can hack into a computer," Paugh said. "If I give my uniqueness to a beast system, I can never get it back. The beast system will eventually kill all those who follow it."
The Bible's book of Revelation describes the beast system and "mark of the beast," warning that numbering people signals the arrival of the Antichrist. People who accept the mark are defying God, Paugh believes.
Paugh's group includes conservative Christians from Nicholas, Kanawha, Harrison, Randolph counties, and Canada. They meet Saturdays at a member's house and Sundays at a motel room.
The box of spaghetti in my kitchen has a bar code that begins with 2 (not 6) and ends with 8 (again, not 6). And that is the mark of what? Muellers?
It doesn't count unless they make you stick the ID on the back of your hand or forehead.
I think they're safe. Such devout people should know the passage a little better.
Mark of the beast = Democrat voter registration..
Umm, too late pal. Do you have a driver's license? A social security number? A credit card?
Your personal information is probably in hundreds of computers across the world.
Screw the Govt and the Real ID.
Close our Borders and start clearing out illegals and then Maybe.
Each license or ID card must include the person's name, address, signature, date of birth, gender, and a digital photograph of the person's face
Well, we already have that here.....so what's different?
This is a heck of a stretch. There are many, many elements that need to come together, prophetically speaking, to signal the Antichrist. This isn't even close.
This guy seems to be a quack at eschatology. I hope he is better at preaching the Gospel.
why? I have yet to hear someone articulate to me what the big deal is. We already have a de factor national ID which is called a Social Security Card. Just expand that so we have a record of each person and their citizenship status.
That's the Mark of the HoseBeast.
I got news for you. It's already there.
> Or maybe Gorbachev's birthmark?
Lordy! That brings back memories...!
Seven years or so ago, an entrepreneur ran a "Masters of Business" Seminar in Auckland. $400 -- $1000 per seat:the event was packed.
Speakers included "Mega-memory" Kevin Trudeau, Al "Chainsaw" Duggan, "Stormin' Norman" Schwartzkopf and... Gorbachev himself! Who could resist???
Luckily, I finessed a pair of tickets from the Firm I worked for (good seats!) and took a client along.
A great day: the hi-lite was Gorbachev's talk, which was given in Russian via an interpreter.
All day long, there was this bird -- a swallow -- that was flying around the building: it had obviously gotten in somehow accidentally, and could not find its way out. Around, around it flew...
...and midway thru Gorbachev's talk, it took a swoop at his birthmark! And then another swoop -- and crapped on his head, bulls-eye!
He uttered something in Russian that was not translated.
(Somehow, somewhere, there *must* exist film footage of this! There were plenty of TV cameras around at the time.)
I was there, I saw it, it is true...
You sure it wasn't Spam(tm) ? The lesser brother of Eeeevil(tm) ?
The second coming happens when the last trumpet blows. I'm thinking this is the seventh trumpet in revelations. I'm afraid there will be Christians around during most of the tribulation.
This afternoon, just as I was assigned a number at my supermarket's deli counter, I felt a distinct aura of evil emanating from the salami display.
***
LOL!
Something THAT good could not possibly exist on video!
I remember as a kid, my mom listened to some Christian radio talk show guy who kept going on and on about Gorby's birthmark and the MotB. Even as a kid I kept thinking, "that's nuts."
Wait a minute... Berlin wall... Soviet collapse... Ronald Reagan destroyed The Beast?! I'll be damned.
You may be on to something. From the worldtribune.com
Iran claims its military can block crude oil shipments to the West.
The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps announced that the military controls much of the Persian Gulf and Sea of Oman.
"Iran can block oil export whenever necessary," IRGC Air Force commander Gen. Hosein Salami said. "This is a natural ability of our country."
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