The “mark of the beast” thing was common among fundies when barcodes were being introduced in the 70s, and spilled over into the 80s and 90s somewhat.
There are three guard bars in the barcode format. Fundies claim these translate to 6-6-6, but that’s not how they work. They don’t translate to numbers at all, and the pattern doesn’t match how numbers are encoded.
None of the other reasons to avoid them hold up. Literally nobody else in retail does this. Mom and pop stores use barcodes because they’re cheap and speed up a whole lot of work. Since Hobby Lobby has obvious fundie reasoning in other ways–like fighting against paying for employee health insurance that covers birth control–the “mark of the beast” is what we’re left with.
I disagree. The three separators are exactly the same as the number six. I agree they are not used as the number six though. I don’t buy into the mark of the beast crap but I found it to be a very interesting coincidence (cannot buy or sell unless you accept the mark of the beast (paraphrasing)).
Which is itself willful fear-mongering by just having passing familiarity with The Bible and simultaneously claiming it as their defining identity.
The Mark of the Beast is specifically a thing on the forehead or hand. It’s not numbers on a can of beans. And that’s before you get into everything about old numerology and contemporary societies that Revelation was probably talking about.
And the second beast required all people small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their forehead, so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark - the name of the beast or the number of its name.
Somehow I doubt requiring a MAGA hat for purchase would get the same level of push back for example.
The “mark of the beast” thing was common among fundies when barcodes were being introduced in the 70s, and spilled over into the 80s and 90s somewhat.
There are three guard bars in the barcode format. Fundies claim these translate to 6-6-6, but that’s not how they work. They don’t translate to numbers at all, and the pattern doesn’t match how numbers are encoded.
None of the other reasons to avoid them hold up. Literally nobody else in retail does this. Mom and pop stores use barcodes because they’re cheap and speed up a whole lot of work. Since Hobby Lobby has obvious fundie reasoning in other ways–like fighting against paying for employee health insurance that covers birth control–the “mark of the beast” is what we’re left with.
I disagree. The three separators are exactly the same as the number six. I agree they are not used as the number six though. I don’t buy into the mark of the beast crap but I found it to be a very interesting coincidence (cannot buy or sell unless you accept the mark of the beast (paraphrasing)).
Which is itself willful fear-mongering by just having passing familiarity with The Bible and simultaneously claiming it as their defining identity.
The Mark of the Beast is specifically a thing on the forehead or hand. It’s not numbers on a can of beans. And that’s before you get into everything about old numerology and contemporary societies that Revelation was probably talking about.
Somehow I doubt requiring a MAGA hat for purchase would get the same level of push back for example.