According to a Blog entry by David Kravets, community farmers in the USA are becoming quite concerned about cattle tags because they are the ‘mark of the beast,’ a reference to symbolic language used in the Book of Revelation.
The tags, as in Australia, are used to track cattle and can be used for ensuring meat quality, keep a check on the spread of disease, etc.
The anti ‘Mark of the Beast’ farmers have filed a suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and are quite serious about not complying with cattle tagging laws (National Animal Identification System). The lawsuit was filed by a group called the ‘Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund,’ which has some 1 400 members.
Should the farmers fail to win the lawsuit, many are expected to quit farming rather than comply with something which would see them (according to their beliefs) embrace the Beast of Revelation.
This sort of thing should be of no surprise when dealing with Christians who have embraced the Premillennialist viewpoint of end times eschatology. Those who hold to such teachings see the mark of the beast in any number of modern technological gadgetry and computer generated codes. They see the mark of the beast in any sort of identification card or chip, in barcodes, etc.
In short, the chief error of the Premillennial viewpoint is the literal understanding of the figurative language of Revelation and other similar writings found in such books of the Bible as Daniel and Ezekiel.
Read more at:
http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/09/farmers-decryin.html
Random Thoughts 
The woman clothed with the sun with the moon under her feet are literal, they were actual constellations that appeared jn the heavens in 1996 or 1997 in that once in millenium arrangment as a sign from god.
about the constellations check out kenraggio.com/krpn-bloodredmoon.htm he says it a lot better than i could
Don’t agree with the mark of the beast theory relating to health care or to the cattle in this story.
thankyou for this post and i agree. I have read into the health care bill that has been ramroded into law.
This bill I do believe is the issuance of the mark, and by accepting this bill or by receiving care under this bill aperson will be agreeing to receive the mark of the beast. when the recipents first start receiving health care under this bill a card or some other external device will be used, but the person has agreed by excepting it that they will adhere to the later standardized method of electronic transactions which will be the implanted mark of the beast. The bill is so deceptively written that it is almost impossible to read. Please if any one else has come to this understanding, comformation would be reassuring and comforting. Forgive My poor spelling habits. thankyou in Christ Jesus with love Jerry Stout.
Well – its a comment. Don’t agree with it – but there it is. Didn’t catch the date.
It is always amazing to me in regards to those who for the sake of their own method of interpretation, who label the mark of the beast or anything else written in the book of Revelation as falling under the title of Hyperbole, poetry and symbolism. While it is true that there is symbolism in the book of Revelation, there is no poetry or hyperbole. The book of Revelation was given to us by God for the purpose of what it stated in the very first verse of the first chapter and that is:
“To show his servants what must soon take place.”
The mark of the beast will be exactly what is written about it. It is for the purpose of buying and selling, just as it says. The word of God is specific about this mark as going on the right hand or the forehead and we now have the technology and it is in fact being tested and perfected for that future purpose. God’s word says, the false prophet “Causes” all, both great and small, rich and poor, free and slave to receive this mark. The way in which he does that is not by physical force, but because at some point all other methods of buying and selling will become obsolete, leaving only the mark as a means of making purchases and we know what the word of God says what will happen to those who will receive it. The mark, in regards to purchasing, will acomplish the same function as the debit card. When you go and buy your groceries, gas, fast food, bills, etc, you swipe your card and the amounts are automatically deducted from your account. Well, shrink the debit card down to something small enough to fit under the skin that will perform the same function. Guess what? They already have this technology! And they are testing and perfecting it. So, for those of you who believe otherwise, your argument is a moot point, because we are staring it in the face. However, this mark will not come into usage until that man of lawlessness is revealed and during the mid-way point of the tribulation period, that is, the beginning of the great tribulation. The burden of proof is on you! When the book of Revelation says that a third of earth is going to be burnt up, I am in total agreement with the literal interpretation of that, i.e. a third of the earth will be burnt up. You people however, who believe that these prophecies are hypebole, poetic and symbolic have to override the literal word and come up with some other interpretation based on your own personal system of interpretation. Now to be sure, there is symbolism in the book of Revelation. There is no doubt about that, but where there is symbolism, it is obvious. A good example of something that should not be taken literally would be the woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars. The word of God gives us the answers to these symbols found in other places in his word. But, if you interpret something that is supposed to be literal as symbolic, then there is no way to know what is being said. A person would be totally dependant upon the one who erronyously interprets it. I have studied the word of God for over 35 years and I would never have come to these interpretations that some have. As we move forward in the future, we will continue to see the progress of this technology for a subdermal payment device (mark) leading up to the time the antichrist, the man of lawlessness. Are you gonna be standing in line waiting to get your literal device implanted under your skin, all the while thinking to yourself, “Gee, I sure am glad that I know the truth, that the mark of the beast is not literal, but hyperbole, poetic and symbolic.” Wake up people, it is staring you in the face!
Interestingly, many fundamentalist protestants believe that the mark of the beast refers to Catholics!….and it’s true, we do go around sprinkling holy water on cows to convert them to papists.