Implanted Microchip

[Britta]

As you may be aware, there is more and more information leading to the fact that people will (and already are) implanting microchips in their hands. The idea is to reduce identity theft and also for medical information on that person. There is a family near my area that is willing to be the first to do it. The company producing this chip is here in my county as well.

Furthermore, Motorola and Mastercard have apparently teamed up and are interested in going further in using this chip for purchasing and selling, eliminating the need for debit and credit cards altogether.

In light of Rev 13, what is the Church’s stance on this? I don’t like a lot of the “end times” hype and know we can see so much in almost everything, but I have to admit I’m curious about this one.

Thanks and God Bless

 

[Michelle_Arnold]

Assuming the information you mentioned is correct, the Church doesn’t take positions on such things other than to advise people to use their prudential judgment. End-times speculators often find their fun in declaring new technologies to be the “mark of the beast.” Another such example was the bar code technology. There were a few worriers who feared that the bar code would be put on people’s foreheads and hands and be The Mark.

Now, whether participating in such a microchip program is advisable from a prudential standpoint is another issue. You have to weigh the benefits (e.g., protection from identity theft, health information instantly available to medical professionals) against the drawbacks (e.g., loss of privacy, health risks from carrying a chip in your body, paving the way for mainstreaming the “tagging” of people) and decide whether this is a good idea.

Personally speaking, I would not participate in such a program because I see the potential for widespread abuses. But, so far as I know, there is nothing in Catholic moral law that says that you must not participate.