[CaptJosh]

I don't buy the aforementioned mistranslation theory on the number of the beast. And I'll tell you why.

It said that all would have to have the mark on their right hand or in their forehead, the exact word translating to the traditional Hindi location of the "third eye".

Now, something I read about several years ago in Popular Science was an ID chip that could be implanted in either of those locations, from where it would be able to derive the most power thermovoltaicly.

These chips have been suggested for convicts, because they can be read from a distance and so would virtually eliminate the need for headcounts in prison. As they use body heat for a power source, if they're cut out, they fail to broadcast their locator signal that is the id number of the chip. Said ID is a UIN consisting of three tiers of six digits each. Six, six, six.

Similar chips are already being used by rich people to tag their pets.

[Rictor]

Originally posted by Ford Prefect

Who is that? Looks sort of like Teller-as-Willy Wonka.

[CaptJosh]

That's Gene Wilder. He's the original movie Willy Wonka from the original 1971 movie.

[Unknown Target]

...It is Willy Wonka. From the original film.

[aldo_14]

Originally posted by CaptJosh
I don't buy the aforementioned mistranslation theory on the number of the beast. And I'll tell you why.

It said that all would have to have the mark on their right hand or in their forehead, the exact word translating to the traditional Hindi location of the "third eye".

Now, something I read about several years ago in Popular Science was an ID chip that could be implanted in either of those locations, from where it would be able to derive the most power thermovoltaicly.

These chips have been suggested for convicts, because they can be read from a distance and so would virtually eliminate the need for headcounts in prison. As they use body heat for a power source, if they're cut out, they fail to broadcast their locator signal that is the id number of the chip. Said ID is a UIN consisting of three tiers of six digits each. Six, six, six.

Similar chips are already being used by rich people to tag their pets.

The 616 value comes from the oldest known copy of the New Testament (or precisely, a scrap of it), and the direct translation of the Greek numerals.  So it's pretty definitive.

EDIT; it was only recently scanned, hence the newness of this information.  Albeit 'rumour' is definately the wrong way to describe it.

[Sandwich]

Originally posted by aldo_14


The 616 value comes from the oldest known copy of the New Testament (or precisely, a scrap of it), and the direct translation of the Greek numerals.  So it's pretty definitive.

EDIT; it was only recently scanned, hence the newness of this information.  Albeit 'rumour' is definately the wrong way to describe it.

Actually, it's apparently merely the latest in conflicting reports on the number of the beast. The 666 vs. 616 debate has been going on for years.

[aldo_14]

Hmm...well...yes.  

But regardless, I wouldn't place the future of humanity in numerology.  There are far better reasons for being against RFID than trying to link it to the apocalypse, after all - and far more viable reasons.

[Kosh]

I will be truthful: I don't believe in this "Rapture". These kinds of religions were an invention of man that has been distorted to supress science and women.

[Grey Wolf]

So you're in favor the concept of religion as a social construct designed to provide an explanation for scientific phenomena and to provide a source for morality?

[Kosh]

I would perfer one that hasn't been corrupted, and that actually supports making progress (like saying that the Earth revolves around the sun).

[Grey Wolf]

Kosh, you don't quite get the concept of the "religion as a social contract" idea. It's not designed to promote anything. It's designed to provide an explanation for phenomena and provide a basis for morality that helps the community. For example, murder. Murder is bad for the community. Hence, it is a sin.

As a note, I'm not saying I'm backing this concept. It's just a possibility.

[Solatar]

Originally posted by Kosh
I will be truthful: I don't believe in this "Rapture". These kinds of religions were an invention of man that has been distorted to supress science and women.

Been reading the Da Vinci Code?

[Kosh]

Actually I never read it.

Kosh, you don't quite get the concept of the "religion as a social contract" idea. It's not designed to promote anything. It's designed to provide an explanation for phenomena and provide a basis for morality that helps the community.

I do support that idea and I think that is what Christianity originally was meant to be, but it was corrupted centuries ago.

[Grey Wolf]

You evidently don't, as you thought it should promote science.  If religion is a naturally occuring social construct, then the only thing it will promote is stability.  In fact, you could almost say it should be against innovation, as innovation is the enemy of stability.

[Kosh]

I guess you're right.


But then again if there is no innovation, then the world stagnates. In the long run I think that is bad.

[Grey Wolf]

It is. But if we go with the view I described earlier, then the religion will actively work against innovation.

Once again, I don't remotely back it. I'm actually a skeptical Catholic.

[Unknown Target]

Religion, if an individual chooses to follow it, should provide a basis of hope, but not become an impedent to progress. That's my opinion, anyway.

[mikhael]

Originally posted by Mefustae
"In the Red Corner, the Son of the Lord God and the Saviour of all Mankind... JESUS!!!" *Clapping*
"And in these two corners, son of the Gods Odin and Jord, Lord of creator of Thunder, and arguably the most powerful God of the Norse Pantheon... THOR!!!" *Unbridled Applause*
*Ding Ding*

Bah, if the goal is to match up similar divine beings, I say let Jesus fight Odin, since they were both spiked to a tree as a defining part of their careers.


What?

[Solatar]

Originally posted by Kosh
Actually I never read it.
 

Your view sounded a lot like part of the view presented in the Da Vinci Code. You should give it a read sometime (more as a novel obviously...).

[Kosh]

Originally posted by Unknown Target
Religion, if an individual chooses to follow it, should provide a basis of hope, but not become an impedent to progress. That's my opinion, anyway.

In theory, that is what it is supposed to be, I think. In reality, the Christian church held Europe back for centuries.


EDIT: I did mean to read the DaVinci code before I left the US, but I never got around to it. I don't know if it is sold here, and even if it is on sale, finding any book in English is very difficult.