Biblical prophecy finds way to legislators in battle over ID plan
By Jon Gambrell, Associated Press Writer  |  March 11, 2007

LITTLE ROCK --As state legislators line up against the U.S. government's attempt to standardize driver's licenses nationwide, some believe it is a beastly plot that will draw the world closer to the apocalypse.

Their inspiration: a magazine dedicated to biblical prophecy. Their fear: national ID numbers given to residents are the mark of the beast, the 666 from the Book of Revelation.

"The ramifications are horrendous," said Sen. Ruth Whitaker, whose resolution opposing the Real ID Act of 2005 has passed the Arkansas Senate. "If there is anything akin to Nazi Germany, it is this act."

Congress hopes to reduce identity theft and boost national security by requiring people to use Real IDs to board airplanes, enter federal buildings and open some bank accounts. Those who dabble in biblical prophecy say the new government-issued numbers mark the beginning of the end.

"People are very concerned if the federal government gives you a number, it will be the mark of the beast," said Missouri Rep. Jim Guest, the sponsor of a resolution similar to Whitaker's. "There are everyday people who get the connection to 666."

Legislators in Georgia, Maine, Montana, New Mexico, Vermont, Washington state and Wyoming have also balked at Real ID and a bill filed in Congress by Rep. Thomas Allen, D-Maine, would repeal it. Many complain that states will have to pay billions of dollars to put the system in place by the end of 2009, as mandated by Congress.

Resolutions in Arkansas, Georgia, Maine and Missouri were offered after legislators read materials, spoke to or had indirect contact with Endtime Ministries of Dallas, whose magazine, radio show and outreach examines current events through the prism of Christian apocalypse.

Recent popular topics in Endtime magazine have also included speculation that Pope Benedict XVI is the false prophet from Revelation and that the United Nations' agenda includes establishing a global army, parliament, court and tax structure.

"If we reach a point where every person is given a number without which they cannot buy or sell, and if your number is in a national database so that the government can track everywhere you go and everything you do, the word is control, and control and freedom are opposites," said Irwin Baxter Jr., who runs Endtime.

Any effort to repeal the Real ID Act is not to stall the eventual end of the world but to ensure the country stands against the Antichrist, Baxter said.

"Daniel 11:40-45 reveals that there will be nations opposing the Antichrist during the Great Tribulation," according to an Endtime magazine article cited by Whitaker, who said she obtained it from Maine Senate Democratic Majority Leader Elizabeth Mitchell.

"We want the United States, Australia, and as many other nations as possible to be on the side that will fight Satan's plan to number the human race," says the article. It calls the Real ID Act "the death of freedom."Continued...