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  • From: bob ford <bobford79 AT yahoo.com>
  • To: homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [Homestead] Amish sue USDA, Michigan over NAIS / RFID
  • Date: Thu, 20 Nov 2008 13:23:51 -0800 (PST)

This is an update from today on a story I posted about before

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Amy Sancetta/AP

Amish Farmers Sue Michigan, USDA Over RFID Tags

November 19, 2008 07:59 AM

by Isabel Cowles

Amish farmers are suing for being forced to use radio frequency
identification (RFID) on cows, which violates scriptural warnings. Email

Amish Wary of RFID, Cite Scriptural Ties to the Devil

Amish farmers are suing the Michigan Department of Agriculture and the United
States Department of Agriculture (USDA) for forcing them to impose “the mark
of the Beast” on their livestock.

The Amish faith, known for its literal interpretations of the Bible,
conflicts with Michigan’s imposition of a law requiring farmers to use radio
frequency ID devices on their cattle to help track and identify animals and
prevent the spread of diseases like mad cow and foot and mouth.

The USDA National Animal Identification System (NAIS) effort to create a
network of registered livestock involves implanting identification devices
called 840s into individual animals. “Available in visual only eartags, radio
frequency identification (RFID) eartags and injectable transponders, 840
devices use a standardized 15-digit numbering system,” the USDA Web site
explains.

Although the USDA intended the NAIS devices to be voluntary, the Michigan
Department of Agriculture has legally required the system. Previously, all
cattle wore metal ear tags for identification purposes—even those on Amish
farms. But the Michigan Department of Agriculture announced that on March 1,
2007, “All cattle must be identified with an official radio frequency
identification (RFID) ear tag prior to movement from a Michigan premises.”

According to Amish belief, the insistence that all livestock be implanted
with a chip represents an “ongoing attempt to number every living thing, a
practice mentioned in Revelations where it is linked with the Devil,” the
Daily Telegraph explains.

The Bush administration argues that the case should be dismissed, noting that
the USDA never made the radio frequency ID chips mandatory. In a statement,
the administration explained that nothing within Michigan’s adaptation of the
law, “prevents the Michigan Department of Agriculture from granting
appropriate religious exemptions imposed by that department," Wired magazine
reports.



Although the Amish are especially traditional in their adherence to the
Bible, other Christians have also resisted the implantation of radio
frequency identification, citing scriptural warnings of “the mark of the
Beast” even where passports, credit or debit cards and electronic barcodes
are concerned.

Christian consumer advocate Katherine Albrecht wrote a book entitled “The
Spychips Threat: Why Christians Should Resist RFID and Electronic
Surveillance.” Albrecht said in an interview with Wired magazine that “My
goal as a Christian (is) to sound the alarm.”

http://www.findingdulcinea.com/news/Americas/2008/November/Amish-Farmers-Sue-Michigan--USDA-Over-RFID-Tags--.html






  • [Homestead] Amish sue USDA, Michigan over NAIS / RFID, bob ford, 11/20/2008

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