National ID Program a ‘Beast’-ly Idea?
Filed under: President 2008, Ron Paul
Texas Rep. Ron Paul, a Republican candidate for president in 2008, has had his name linked to a group with rather specific reasons for opposing the Real ID program.
Paul "has appeared on the Endtime radio program," the AP reported in a March 11 article entitled "Biblical prophecy finds way to legislators in battle over ID plan." Endtime Ministries, the AP explained, is an organization " whose magazine, radio show and outreach examine (sp) current events through the prism of Christian apocalypse."
The article's title was referring to state legislators -- some of whom, the AP reported, believe the Real ID program for upgrading driver's licenses "is a beastly plot that will draw the world closer to the apocalypse." The article quoted Missouri state representative Jim Guest: "People are very concerned if the federal government gives you a number, it will be the mark of the beast."
Today, I took out my trusty King James and read Revelation to see what the book actually said about the mark of the beast. From Chapter 13, verse 11: "And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon." Verses 16-17 continue: "And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads; And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name."
The public deserves to know about Paul's links to Endtime. An article in Endtime Magazine (May/June 2006 issue, pp. 20-21, "What is the Mark of the Beast?") explains one reason why the group opposes Real ID: "The mark of the beast will be required for a person to buy and sell," Endtime founder Irvin Baxter Jr. wrote. "The national ID, which will be implemented in America between now and 2008, will be required to hold a job or open a bank account ... Will the national ID soon become the mark of the beast?"
